


Cuts & Bruises

by tachiequillsluv



Category: Naruto
Genre: Adoption, Alternate Universe, Angst, Boy Love, Bullying, Coma, Cutting, Domestic Violence, Drama, Fangirls, Gay, High School, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Murder, Obsession, Romance, Self-Harm, Self-Mutilation, Soulmates, Violence, mental issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-02
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:08:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 27,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25503415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tachiequillsluv/pseuds/tachiequillsluv
Summary: Not only is life hard enough when you have to deal with your own issues, but having to deal with the physical pain of your soulmates too can be taxing. Sasuke and Naruto each have to deal with their own lives as well as each other's. But how long until one of them can't be saved?
Relationships: Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Kudos: 29





	1. Prologue

Naruto Uzumaki quickly ran up the stairs as fast as his six-year-old legs could carry him. As soon as he reached the room at the end of the hall, his room, he opened the door as fast as he could and then slammed it shut. He quickly looked around the room, trying to find the best hiding place. His eyes quickly spotted his bed.

He took a step towards the bed, but stopped when he remembered how his mom would tell him hiding under the bed would get his blonde hair dirty. However, when he heard footsteps on the stairs, he quickly scrambled underneath as fast as he could.

The door to his room burst open, and in the doorway, he could see the lower half of his father. He tried to put more distance between him and his father, but the wall stopped him before he could make much progress.

"Naruto!" His father's tone was harsh and filled with anger. "Get out here! I don't have time for your childish shit, Naruto!"

Naruto covered his ears and closed his eyes shut.

"Minato! Stop, this is ridiculous!" Naruto's eyes opened when he heard the voice of his mother. "He just spilled some milk, it's not the end of the world!" He could now see his mother's lower half enter his room and he inched closer.

"He spilled the whole damn thing, Kushina. And just fucking left it there!" He yelled at her.

"Watch your mouth in front of him!" She shouted at him.

"Know your place." He snapped.

"Excuse you? What did you just say to me?"

Naruto hunched back up against the wall. He then noticed that they moved away from the doorway. He scurried out from under the bed and made a run for it.

"Naruto!" His father noticed him and tried to chase after him.

Kushina quickly blocked his path, eyes narrowed in irritation. "Stop this Minato."

"Move." Before Naruto reached the stairs, he heard his mother let out a scream. He made an abrupt stop and turned just in time to see his father slam his mother to the ground and stepped over her and towards him. He couldn't move and just watched him in terror.

"Minato, stop!" His mother called out, her voice strained.

His father grabbed his arm and yanked, hard. Naruto quickly shut his eyes as he saw his father's fist flying towards him.

Sasuke Uchiha, age 7, stood in front of the door to his older brother's, Itachi's, room. He knocked gingerly on the door, awaiting his response.

Itachi opened the door and sighed at his little brother. His long black hair tied up in a messy bun. The two of them looked like twins, minus the eight year age difference. "Can I help you, Sasuke? I'm kind of busy."

Sasuke looked at the ground, disappointed. "Since papa isn't home yet, I was wondering if you could help me with my homework?"

Itachi rolled his eyes. "When are you going to learn to do it on your own?"

Sasuke's lip quivered but he stayed silent, continuing to stare at the ground.

Itachi's eyes softened and he gently patted his little brother's hair. "Listen, this weekend I'll spend all day with you. How about that?"

Sasuke's eyes widened in excitement and he nodded enthusiastically.

Itachi gave a light chuckle. "So you think you can do your homework on your own?"

"Yes I can!" Sasuke ran quickly down the hallway and into his room.

He was about to finish his math homework, when a sharp and sudden pain hit him in the stomach. His eyes started to tear and he lifted up his shirt to see a black and blue mark. His eyes widened in surprise when an onslaught of the same pain hit him all over his body. He started to scream suddenly, crying out for his mother.

His mother, Mikoto, quickly came bursting into the room, panting heavily. Itachi quickly followed after her, concerned about his brother.

Mikoto gasped at the sight of her son, writhing in pain on the floor, bruises covering his body. She turned to her eldest son. "Itachi, I got this."

Itachi nodded silently and gave one last concerned look at his brother before leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

"Sasuke?" His mother stepped closer to him and kneeled next to him. "What happened, dear?"

Sasuke stayed quiet, sniffling and crying.

"Has it stopped?"

A nod and more sniffling.

She gently picked him up and placed him onto his bed. "Can you tell me what happened?"

Sasuke sniffled some more before giving her a nod. He pulled the blanket that was at his stomach up to his chin. "I was just doing my math homework when my tummy started to hurt. There was a weird mark there. And then, all of a sudden, it started to hurt everywhere!" He started to cry once again.

She gave him a sad smile and sat on the bed next to him. "I'm so sorry, darling."

Sasuke started to calm down and looked up at his mother with tear filled eyes. "What was that, mama?"

"That was your soulmate."

"Soul Mate?" Sasuke looked up at her, confused.

She nodded. "Yep. A soulmate, is a person you're supposed to be with for your whole life. They're supposed to love you and you're suppose to love them. They are your best friend,your special person."

Sasuke thought for a minute before he brightened. "Like papa and you? Is papa your special person? Your soulmeat?"

She laughed and nodded. "Soulmate. Not meat. But yes, he is."

"Does everyone have one?"

She gave him a nod.

"Even Itachi?" His face scrunched up in mild disgust.

She giggled and patted his leg. "Yes, even Itachi."

He stuck out his tongue. He then sat up in bed, looking down at his lap. "So why did this happen to me?"

"Well, soulmates also feel physical pain that the other one feels. So if you fall down and scratch your knee, your soulmate will also hurt their knee."

Sasuke looked at her thoughtfully, his finger gently tapping his lip. "So that just means I can never get hurt again!" He gave her a large smile.

Mikoto smiled at him. "I guess so!"

"But what happened to my soulmate? Are they okay?"

Her smile turned to a frown, she had a good idea what was happening to his soulmate but didn't know how to explain it to her seven-year-old. "You're going to have to be tough for them, okay? I know you're strong so they must be strong too, to be your soulmate."

Sasuke smiled brightly up at her. "I will be! I'll be so strong so that I can protect them too! Then they'll never get hurt either! I promise, mama!"


	2. Chapter 2

Sasuke, aged 16, sat in the passenger side of his brother's car, leaning heavily against the door, making sure his back wasn't touching the seat. The bruise he got on his back the night before, was hurting more than he thought it would.

Itachi, aged 24, gave his little brother a confused look at the way he was sitting. As time went on, Sasuke started fidgeting some more, hissing and flinching at times. Itachi turned down the volume of the stereo. "Sasuke?"

Sasuke stopped his movements and calmly, but slowly sat back in the seat, letting out a deep breath when he managed to relax. "Yeah?"

Itachi made a quick glance at the road and smirked when he got an idea in his head. He jerked the wheel enough to the side so that the car ran over a pothole.

Sasuke immediately grunted in pain and jumped forward, grasping onto the dashboard. He glared at his brother, teeth clenched. "What are you doing, asshole?"

Itachi was laughing too hard to answer his question. Sasuke grumbled to himself as he got settled back into his seat.

"You're such a fucking jerk." Sasuke managed to get out once his brother calmed down.

"You just couldn't sit still, I had to take advantage." Itachi gave him an innocent smile before laughing wildly again.

"Of course, take the advantage of the fact that my future girlfriend is in pain causing me to be in pain and you just adding on. I can see why it's so irresistible now." Sasuke's tone was laced with sarcasm as he glared back out the window.

The humor from Itachi was quickly replaced with worry and concern. "I'm sorry Sasuke, I just wanted to-" He was interrupted by the car's stereo beginning to ring, signaling a call.

They both turned to look at it. Itachi sheepishly looked at him. "Its work, so I gotta," he trailed off, feeling guilty.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He went back to looking out the window.

Itachi's call lasted the whole ride to Sasuke's school and he hurriedly said his goodbyes as he dropped him off and speedily drove away.

Sasuke started the walk to his homeroom class and sat in his seat. His two best, and pretty much only friends, Neji Hyuga and Kiba Inuzuka, were sitting in the two seats next to him.

Neji greeted him with a nod, he wasn't one for talking. His long brown hair was styled in a messy bun and he looked bored, probably from the previous one-sided conversation he had with Kiba.

Kiba was the complete opposite of Neji, very talkative and full of energy. His brown hair was shaggy and even with his mouth closed, his canines managed to peek out between his lips. He greeted Sasuke with a large grin.

"Hey Sasuke, you got that homework from last night?" Kiba looked at him hopefully, a blank piece of paper on his desk.

Sasuke rolled his eyes before taking out his folder from his backpack and handing it to Kiba. "I don't know if the last answers are right. I couldn't concentrate at the end and didn't care about double checking."

Kiba waved him off. "Whatever, dude! I don't copy your answers word for word, so getting a few wrong is what I do anyways." He looked at Neji and stuck out his tongue. "At least someone loves me enough to let me copy off of them."

Neji glared at Kiba. "I don't think it's love so much as him not wanting to be annoyed first thing in the morning." Kiba gave a pout but went back to his homework. Neji turned his attention to Sasuke, his look softening. "What happened last night?"

Sasuke sighed and shook his head. "Nothing out of the usual. I have a killer bruise on my back though. And of course Itachi had to be a dick about it."

"Itachi is always a dick."

Sasuke nodded. "I can't argue with you there."

"Hey Sasuke!" A higher pitched voice called out to them. The three teens looked up at each other in fright. Kiba moved his head to see Sakura Haruno, Sasuke's number one "fangirl". She was an over eccentric girl who tried her very best to try and win Sasuke over. Her pink hair was layered and she was wearing a cocktail dress that just barely met the dress code.

Sasuke ignored the girl, keeping his gaze on Neji.

"How are you?" Sakura stood next to him, leaning down to try and get a better look at his face.

Sasuke scrunched up his nose in disgust. The perfume she was wearing wasn't one that was pleasant and she seemed to have gone overboard with it. "What perfume are you wearing?"

"Oh!" She stood up quickly and clapped once. "You like it? I'm so happy you noticed!" She went behind him and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing against his back.

Sasuke hissed in pain and before he realized what he was doing, stood up and pushed her away from him. She stumbled but caught herself on a nearby desk. "What the hell, Sakura?" He shouted, glaring at her.

The whole room was staring at the two of them. Sakura nervously tucked her hair behind her ear but didn't say anything.

Sasuke looked around the room, then back at her. He sighed deeply and rubbed his forehead. "Please don't touch me without my consent. I'm sorry for pushing you."

Sakura was silent before smiling. "It's okay! No worries!" She gave him a quick hug before running over to her friends.

"And she still just completely ignores me." Sasuke rolled his eyes before sitting back down.

"She'll get over it one day." Kiba slammed his homework back on his desk.

Alone in the first half of the school day, Sasuke headed to lunch where Kiba and Neji were already sitting at their usual table.

"Sasuke, dude," Kiba looked up at him worriedly, a blank sheet of paper in front of him. "I accidentally handed in the wrong paper for English. I need to copy the homework for History again. Mr. Hanley will kill me if I miss it one more day."

Neji rolled his eyes. "What happened to your English homework?"

Kiba gave him a shrug and waited patiently as Sasuke took out the homework once again. "Thanks buddy!" He patted Sasuke's arm before starting to copy the homework.

Sasuke flinched at the touch and quickly put his arm under the table. He lifted back his sleeve to check his arm. There were multiple cuts along his arm, some new and some old. He gently brushed the newest ones with the tip of his finger.

Neji gave him a skeptical look. "You okay?"

Sasuke quickly pulled down his sleeve and casually leaned on the table. "Yeah, just the usual stuff."

Neji nodded in understanding. "Your soulmate?"

"Something like that."

At the end of the day, Sasuke reluctantly said his goodbyes to his friends and got onto the bus. The 20 minute bus ride was just him and his thoughts. The bruise on his back wasn't hurting him as much and he was thankful for that.

As the bus dropped him off at the end of the street, Sasuke started the walk to his home. As he entered the front door of the two-story house, the house was dark and quiet.

"I'm home." He called out. He got no response, unsurprisingly, for his brother should still be at work and his mother was in her room.

Stopping to his room, he dropped off his school stuff before heading into his mother's room.

The curtains were drawn leaving the room dark. Sasuke and Itachi have tried to open them before but their mother would protest to leave them shut, having an episode. He remembered that was just the beginning of their mother's mental decline.

He looked to the nightstand to see the multiple pill bottles scattered across the surface. He then looked at the bed where his mother was lying, face up, the covers pulled up to her chin. Her hair was starting to gray even at her young age of 44.

He pulled the chair that was at her desk over to the side of the bed. He sat down, looking at her with a frown. "Hey mom. So, school was uneventful today. Though on the ride to school, Itachi was being an ass. He swerved right into a pothole just so I'd hit the bruise I got on my back last night." He paused to study his mother's face. From what he could see, there was no reaction. "I've been thinking though, since I'm finally sixteen, I should get my permit. I was going to ask Itachi about it tonight at dinner. Wish me luck." He stood up from the chair and gently placed a kiss on his mother's forehead.

Sasuke went into his room and started doing his homework. He was nearly finished with his work when there was a knock on his door. He turned to see Itachi standing in the hallway. A container of rice in his hands.

"I just finished giving Mom her dinner. Are you ready to eat? I just got us chinese."

"Sure." He shrugged before standing up and stretching, he hissed when the bruise on his back ached painfully.

"I'm sorry about earlier. Honest."

Sasuke pushed past him, making him nearly drop the container onto the floor. "Whatever."

The two of them sat across from each other at the small round table, a habit they didn't want to end even if neither of their parents would ever sit with them again.

"Itachi," Sasuke set his fork on his finished plate and looked at his brother.

Itachi gave him a quick glance to let him know he was listening before continuing to eat his food.

"I want to get my permit."

Itachi's hand stopped midway to his mouth. He slowly lowered his fork before looking sheepishly away. "As much as I would love too, I don't think now is the right time. Work has been piling up at the office and with Mom sick, I just don't have the time to teach you. Maybe in the summer."

Sasuke glared at him. "You never have time for anyone but yourself." He stood up from his seat and slammed his hands on the table. "And your stupid job that you don't even like anyways."

Itachi gave Sasuke a glare. "I'm sorry that my stupid job pays the bills and puts food on the table. Don't be an ungrateful little brat just because you can't get what you want. I told you in the summer so it's either that or nothing."

The two brothers stared each other down, neither one breaking their intense gaze. Sasuke's eyes started to water and he quickly turned his head so his brother wouldn't see him.

Itachi let out a snort before going back to his dinner. "Don't forget to put the plate in the sink."

"Fuck you." Sasuke snapped. He hurriedly dumped his plate into the sink and went up to his room.

Once he was seated on his bed, he opened the drawer to his nightstand. Inside was a small wooden box. He took it out and opened it to reveal a small razor blade. He rolled up his sleeve and lifted the blade to his arm. Taking in a deep breath, he began to make cuts on his arm. He watched them turn an angry red before blood started to form beads on the cuts.

When he felt satisfied, no longer feeling as angry, he placed the razor and box back into the nightstand. He cleaned up his arm in the bathroom before getting ready for bed.


	3. Chapter 3

Naruto, age 15, sat at the edge of his bed, staring at his wrists where he felt the familiar sting of his skin getting cut. He watched as the lines appeared on his skin, not bleeding but an angry red. A frown marred his face as he watched a few more appear and stop. After a few minutes, no new ones appeared and he fell down onto the bed with a sigh.

The bed above his was empty, at least for now. The boy that use to stay there having left for juvie some odd days ago after robbing a store.

In this group home, he's only been here for six months or so and already has fought most of the guys here.

He held his wrist up to look at the cuts and he felt a wave of concern wash over him. He wished he could've been there for his future girlfriend, to make sure everything was alright and to hold her in his arms. He started to get angry at himself and his situation. He sat up in his bed and from underneath his pillow he pulled out a black wristband and slid it onto his wrist to cover the cuts.

Naruto stood up and started to walk over to the other side of the room where the three oldest kids had their beds. The two oldest who were less than a year away from aging out of the system were sitting on the bottom bunk of the bed, watching a video on one of their phones, while the third oldest was looking down from the top bunk.

Naruto stopped in front of them and gave the two who were sitting a glare.

One of them, Brandon, he thought, looked up and sneered. "Fuck off, loser. We're busy." He looked back down at the phone.

Without warning, Naruto knocked the phone out of their hands and the three boys watched the phone fall to the floor and the screen cracked.

The boy from the top bunk jumped off the bed and landed in front of him. He was a couple inches taller than him, but he didn't let that bother him. "Why the fuck did you do that, huh?" He gave him a shove but Naruto stayed in place, continuing to glare up at him.

"I got him, Lewis." The boy next to Brandon stood up.

Lewis smirked at Naruto and took a couple of steps back, his hands up. "Whatever you say, Boss." He snickered and sat down on the bed next to Brandon.

"Why'd you come over here, Naruto?" The boy, Kyler, Naruto thought his name was, gave him a calm look. He folded his arms across his chest and waited for him to answer.

"Do I need a reason to fuck up some assholes?" He gave him a shrug.

The two boys on the bed started to protest but Kyler held his hand up and they were quickly silenced. He gave his attention back to Naruto. "You're gonna have to pay for breaking that phone."

"I don't have to do shit." He spat onto his face and smirked at the horrid look that quickly crossed his face. The horror was quickly replaced with anger and Naruto quickly got into a defensive stance.

Kyler was quick to jump on him and throw the first punch. Naruto stumbled back and tried to throw a punch towards his face, but the two boys grabbed his arms and held him still as best as they could with his struggling. Kyler started to punch him, focusing only on his side. Naruto tried kicking at him but Brandon and Lewis then wrapped one of their legs against each of his own.

Seizing the opportunity, Naruto used his strength to jump, causing all three of them to fall to the ground. The wind was knocked out of him when he fell to the floor but he kicked at Kyler's shin, making him fall to the ground as well.

He quickly scrambled off the ground and was about to start kicking at Kyler's back when a hand grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"What's going on here?" The home counselor shouted.

When Naruto looked up, he could see most of the boys gathered around them. No one answered his question until Kyler stood up.

"We were just watching videos on our phone, sir. Naruto came over and knocked it out of our hands, breaking it."

Lewis walked over to where the phone was and held it out for the counselor to see.

"Is this true, Naruto?" The counselor looked over at him and he turned his head away, staying silent. "Everyone back to bed."

The counselor waited for everyone to leave before he faced Naruto. "You're going to have to pay for that phone, Naruto."

He scowled. "Whatever!"

He stormed away from the counselor and the other boys before heading back to his bed to go to sleep.

The next morning, Naruto got up around 5:30, wanting to shower before most of the guys got up. He went into the large bathroom and took the nearest shower.

As he hung up his clothes, he looked down at his body where a bruise was forming on his side. He poked at it and hissed at the pain. He quickly finished his shower and got ready for school.

Instead of taking the bus, he always walked. He was a loner, always constantly moving due to being in the foster system, and was bullied. The bus was one of the worst places to be he figured out early on. Walking took nearly twice as long but at least he could be left alone.

As soon as he got to the school, his gaze kept to the ground and he tried to ignore the laughter and harsh whispers he knew were directed at him.

Naruto did pretty well in school. He payed attention in class and the teachers loved that he was quiet and stays on top of his work. During classes, was his only time throughout the day that he could appreciate his time alone where no one bothered him. But when lunch came around, he was half tempted to just walk off campus and go back to the home.

After buying a sandwich and milk in the cafeteria, he headed outside, trying to avoid the tables that he knew would give him the hardest time.

All of a sudden, he felt himself falling forwards and he quickly held out his arms to brace himself for the fall. The first thing he noticed was that now he was wet. He opened his eyes to see the milk exploded due to impact. He also noticed the leg that was sticking out at the table next to him which was probably the reason why he tripped.

The kids at the table started to point and laugh and the kid who was just now putting his leg back under the table, smirked down at him. "You should really watch where you're going."

Naruto rolled his eyes and stood up quickly, wiping the milk off his face with his hand as best as he could. "And you should really fuck off."

The kids at the table all 'oohed' and the kid glared at him and gave him a hard shove. Naruto stumbled back and then slipped in the milk causing him to fall once again.

There was more laughter this time as kids from other tables turned to see what was going on. Naruto got up and quickly left the cafeteria.

He quickly stormed down the hallway and headed towards the doors of the building.

"Where are you going?" A security officer called out.

"Home." He didn't stop to hear what else the guy had to say as he pushed the doors opened and started the walk back to the home.

When he reached the group home, he headed into the sleeping area where he quietly laid down onto his bed and fell asleep.

"Dude, look at that!"

Naruto was woken up to the sound of voices near him. He opened his eyes to blurrily see Kyler, Brandon and Lewis standing around his bed. "What do you want?" He sat up in his bed and glared at them.

"Well, we were gonna make sure you were gonna pay us back for that phone." Kyler crossed his arms over his chest and smirked down at him.

"But we can clearly see you got your own issues to deal with." Brandon put his arm up onto the top bunk and leaned forward.

Naruto gave them a confused look. "What are you talking about?"

"Your arm, Wolverine." Lewis pointed out with a snort.

Naruto's eyes widened and he looked down at his arm to see the wristband was moved down close to his elbow, revealing the cuts and scars that were present. He quickly pulled it back in place, his face turning red. "I-I didn't do it. It's not me."

The three boys started laughing. "It only makes sense that you'd have a lame, emo girlfriend who cuts herself." Kyler said through his laughing.

"Shut up." Naruto hissed, clenching his fists. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Of course we do. She's just some attention seeking whore who just wants a little love from her par-" Lewis' sentence was cut short as Naruto quickly stood up and punched in him the mouth.

"You little shit!" Lewis spat onto the floor before lunging after him.

The two started hitting each other and soon, Kyler and Brandon joined in.

Just as the three boys had the upper hand, they quickly stopped, taking a step away from him. Naruto used the opportunity to throw a punch directly into Lewis' stomach.

"Naruto!" Naruto's eyes widened as he turned to see the counselor and his social worker in the doorway. "My office, this instance."

"See ya later, Naruto." Kyler smirked as he watched Naruto leave the room, trailing behind the two adults.

"You wanted to see me sir?" Naruto politely asked as the social worker closed the door.

"You skipped school. And this is the third fight in a row this week you've been in." The counselor shook his head.

"We're relocating you. This is obviously an unfit environment for you. We've found a new foster home for you to stay at. You'll be moving school districts so you'll be transferring." The social worker stated, not giving any chance for Naruto to protest.

He stayed in his seat, staring at the two of them before scowling and standing up. "Whatever."


	4. Chapter 4

Sasuke woke up in pain the next morning. He sat up in his bed and groaned. He rubbed at his eye and hissed at the pain it caused. Throwing the blankets off of his body, he walked briskly into the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror.

"Son of a-" He cursed at the big, dark, black and purple colored bruise that was on his left eye. He gently prodded the bruise and once again hissed at the pain it caused him. He sighed before looking himself over in the mirror once more and then shaking his head.

He walked back into his room and got ready for the school day. Once dressed, with his hair brushed, he made one more stop to the bathroom, hoping maybe the bruise was just his imagination. He scowled at himself as the bruise was still there. "At least its not swollen." He mumbled to himself as he stomped his way down the stairs.

On the kitchen table was a plate of toast, eggs and bacon, waiting for him at his seat. His brother had his own plate, phone in one hand with the fork in the other. He didn't look up as Sasuke sat down across from him.

"Morning." Sasuke greeted him but received no answer back. He sighed and slammed his elbow onto the table, trying to get a reaction out of Itachi.

Itachi paid him no mind, continuing to scroll through his phone, eyes narrowed in concentration.

Sasuke gave his brother a frown before lifting his fork full of eggs to his mouth.

"Ready to go?" Itachi quickly stood up, dropping his fork onto his plate.

Sasuke nearly dropped his fork but then gave his brother a look of disbelief. "I just sat down! I only had one bite!"

"Well hurry up, I can't be late." Itachi placed his plate in the sink and left the kitchen, not saying anything else.

Sasuke watched him leave before shaking his head and quickly finishing his breakfast.

The car ride to school was silent and Sasuke felt upset that Itachi made no attempt to ask about the bruise.

"Bye Itachi." Sasuke stayed seated in the car as he waited for Itachi to say something.

He watched as Itachi continued to type on his phone. Itachi then looked up and raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you going to go in or do I have to kick you out?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He slammed the car door shut and walked towards the building.

He kept his head down as best as he could, hoping his bangs would hide the bruise on his face. A small group of girls quickly stopped him, a few feet away from his friends. He cursed under his breath and turned his head to the left.

"Hey Sasuke, how's it going?" One of the girls spoke up. She seemed nervous and the other two girls each gently nudged her in the side. "Stop it!" She hissed as they giggled. She turned back to him. "I just wanted to ask you if you wanted to grab dinner and a movie with me sometime?"

Sasuke turned his head a little, trying to look at her without revealing his face. "Look, I actually don't-"

"The answer is no, bitch." Sasuke groaned as Sakura came up next to him, linking her arm through his. "He has me, he doesn't need you."

The girl and her friends narrowed their eyes at her. "Get over yourself, Sakura. Nobody wants you. Especially not Sasuke. He's better than that."

Sakura returned the glare. "Listen, what's your name again? Stacy?"

"Lacy." Came the sharp reply.

"Sure. Whatever." Sakura rolled her eyes and leaned against Sasuke. "You're a nobody. You're not even on his radar. You're just a stupid, little-"

"Enough!" Sasuke shouted. He pulled his arm from Sakura's and rubbed at the sides of his temple. "I don't want either of you, alright?" He looked up to glare at them. All four girls gasped in shock and Sasuke once again groaned in frustration at the realization of what he did.

"Sasuke, are you okay?" Lacy asked. She reached out a hand but it was quickly swatted away by Sakura.

"My poor darling, what happened?" She stood in front of Sasuke and gently grasped his shoulders.

He turned face his away from her and gave her a gentle push so she wouldn't be as close to him. "Nothing happened."

Lacy stepped closer to him, elbowing Sakura behind her. "Was it your soulmate?"

Sasuke tensed at the accusation, staying silent.

Sakura gasped before pushing Lacy out of the way. "My poor Sasuke! You shouldn't be with such a brute of a woman. She shouldn't be getting into fights and making you suffer like this. She's a terrible soulmate and I'd treat you so much better." She huffed at him.

"Shut up." Sasuke spat out.

The two girls looked at him, mouth agape. "What?" Sakura questioned his outburst.

"I said, shut up." He gave them both a glare.

Lacy's eyes started to water and she turned her head away. Sakura, unaffected by his harsh tone, looked at him innocently. "Why are you getting so angry? I'm just being honest with you. You don't deserve this, a girl who gets in fights like this."

"You don't know what you're talking about." Sasuke started to raise his voice. "You don't know anything about her or what she's even going through." His voice getting louder with each word, causing a crowd to form around the three of them. He groaned and held his head in frustration. "How can you be so ignorant! A-and stupid?!"

"Alright, alright!" The crowd parted as Kiba came through, pushing people to get closer to Sasuke. Neji following behind him, apologizing to those who were pushed more roughly by Kiba. "Show's over people, move it along!" He threw his arm around Sasuke's shoulder as the crowd started to disperse.

"It'd be best if you ladies left." Neji addressed the girls.

Lacy nodded, tears were streaming down her face. She quickly turned and ran to catch up with her friends that she came with earlier.

Sakura watched her leave before turning back to the boys. She crossed her arms over her chest and smirked. "Glad she's out of the picture, right Sasuke?"

"I was also talking to you, Sakura."

Sakura huffed before giving Sasuke one last glance and heading into the building.

"You wanna skip first period and head to the field?" Kiba asked Sasuke who was now leaning against his shoulder.

Sasuke nodded.

Neji rolled his eyes. "Well, there goes my perfect attendance award."

Sasuke snorted as the three of them headed towards the soccer field. "This isn't elementary school. When was the last time you've ever gotten that award?"

"Before I was friends with the two of you."

Kiba gasped in mock surprise. "Did you hear that Sasuke? He called us his friends!"

"This must be the greatest day of our lives!" Sasuke looked at Kiba excitedly before they started to laugh hysterically.

Neji's mouth started to twitch as he tried his hardest not to smile. "You two are idiots."

Kiba threw his arm around Neji's shoulder. "But we're you're idiots!"

Neji rolled his eyes. "Unfortunately."

The three of them reached the soccer field and climbed up the bleachers.

Sasuke went to the top of the middle row and lied down on the bench, staring up at the sky.

"Is everything okay?" Neji sat down next to him and quietly asked him, concern evident on his face.

Kiba threw himself face down on the bench below them, mumbling to himself.

"You haven't had a bruise on your face in a while."

Sasuke sighed and covered his eyes with his arm. "Why do I have to have the soulmate who gets abused? Why can't I have your soulmate? She breaks an arm once and now barely gets a scratch? Or even Kiba's? His never gets hurt." He sighed and sat up and shook his head. "It's just so frustrating. I can't do anything about this."

Neji gave him a frown and lightly patted his arm. "I know it sucks, but she's your soulmate for a reason. You're one of the strongest people I know, if anyone can do this, it's you."

Sasuke darkly chuckled. "You sound like my mom." He paused and frowned at his words. "Sounded."

"Well then she's right." Sasuke and Neji looked down at Kiba who was now lying on his side, watching the two of them. "If you can't get through this, no one can. That girl is lucky to have you."

"I'm not too sure." Sasuke mumbled under his breath, lightly rubbing his arm.

"What?" Kiba leaned closer to him.

Sasuke quickly shook his head. "Nothing."

Neji gave Kiba a smirk. "Look at you being all sentimental. Who knew you had it in you?"

Kiba closed his eyes and stuck out his tongue. "Shut it, pretty boy. My friend needed some cheering up and that's exactly what I did."

Neji rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to respond, when the sound of the bell for the end of first period rang throughout the campus. "Let's go, guys. We're not going to skip anymore classes."

"Aw, boo! Neji you're such a bore!" Kiba whined. He still began to gather his stuff as both Sasuke and Neji looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

The three of them walked back to the building and went their separate ways.

For the rest of the school day, Sasuke would be stopped and asked questions by his fellow classmates who were concerned about his well-being. He brushed off most people, not bothering to encourage their interest in him. Of course, Sakura was always close by him, assuring their classmates that he'll be okay and that she'll take care of him.

It wasn't until the final bell that Sasuke could finally stop feeling smothered. He headed to his bus, saying a quick bye to Neji and Kiba.

He got off the bus and walked home. After dropping his bag off in his own room, he headed into his mother's.

Today she was turned, facing the doorway. Her eyes were closed, Sasuke assuming she was sleeping. He quietly shut the door and pulled the chair close to her bedside. He gently threaded his fingers through her hair. Her eyes fluttered open and looked straight ahead at nothing.

"Hey mom," Sasuke smiled sadly at her. She made no other movement and he sighed sadly. "School was the same as always. Well except for the fact that everyone at school asked if I was okay. My soulmate got into some trouble yesterday, cause now I have a black eye. It was actually kind of annoying to be bothered by everyone." He scoffed lightly and watched her.

Her eyes slowly moved and looked at him and Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise. He watched as her own eyes got wider as she registered the black eye that marred his face. Before Sasuke could even react, the look was gone and once again her eyes showed a void.

Sasuke quickly stood up and leaned closer to her face. "Mom?"

There was no further reaction and Sasuke sat back down, disappointed. He ran a hand through his hair, feeling frustrated before he left and went back into his own room to begin his school work.

Three hours later, Itachi called Sasuke down for dinner. He walked down to the kitchen to see pork chops and potatoes on the table. Itachi was sitting in his own spot, on his phone.

They ate in silence at first until Sasuke decided to share his experience.

"Mom responded to me today." Sasuke carefully watched his brother.

Itachi looked up from his phone and gave a curious look to Sasuke. "Really? What happened?"

"I was telling her about my day, like normal, and when I mentioned my soulmate got a black eye, she looked up at me and was surprised."

"She looked at you?" Itachi rose an eyebrow and Sasuke felt a little excited that his brother was actually having a conversation with him.

"Yeah. I mean, it lasted like two seconds but I saw it."

Itachi sighed before looking back down at his phone. "She looks at me all the time, it's nothing special."

Sasuke stared at him in disbelief before glaring. "But she was surprised! She's never shown emotion before!"

"Her eyes were probably just adjusting to the light near you. It's nothing special."

Sasuke growled at him and stood up quickly, slamming his hands on the table. "It was something special! Mom is still in there and that reaction proves it!" He took a deep breath and stepped away from the table. "Maybe she's even getting better."

Itachi placed his phone on the table and gave Sasuke his full attention. "Sasuke, don't let your hopes get so high over something as silly as that. You need to be realistic. Mom is not coming back from this. The sooner you can accept this, the easier it'll be."

Sasuke stared at him, once again in disbelief as Itachi picked up his phone once again. "How did you become so fucking jaded, Itachi? You can't even believe in our own mother who did so much for you! You're terrible!"

Itachi waved him off, not bothering to reply.

Sasuke stomped away and into his room. He slammed the door shut, locking it. He turned on some music and sat on his bed. He stared at his nightstand before reaching over taking out the razor that was tucked away inside.


	5. Chapter 5

Sasuke woke the next morning, anticipating some of type of pain but felt none. He sat up in his bed and carefully felt his body. When he felt no pain, he smiled. He got ready for the school day and headed down the stairs to see Itachi sitting at the table.

“Guess what?” Sasuke asked, grabbing a bowl from the cabinet and then a box of cereal.

“Hm?” Itachi absentmindedly replied.

“Woke up with no bruises.” Sasuke smiled triumphantly as he sat down with his bowl of cereal. “Today’s going to be a great day.”

“Sounds great.”

Sasuke frowned at Itachi’s phone. “Then me, Kiba and Neji plan on robbing a bank and using the money to buy drugs and prostitutes.”

“Good, good.” Itachi narrowed his eyes in focus at his phone.

Sasuke scoffed. “Whatever.” He angrily began to eat his cereal.

After sometime, Itachi looked up from his phone and at his little brother. “You ready?”

“Hn.”

“Let’s go.” Itachi stood up and headed out the door, Sasuke following suit.

Once Sasuke was dropped off at school, he headed straight to his homeroom class where Kiba and Neji were sitting at their desks.

“So, guess who's not in any pain today?” Sasuke sat down in his seat with a smirk.

“No shit! For real?” Kiba asked surprised.

Neji rolled his eyes. “It's not like its never happened before.”

Sasuke gave Neji a playful glare. “Can't you just be happy for me for once?”

Neji pretended to be thinking about his answer. “No.”

“Sasuke Uchiha?” The homeroom teacher called out.

Sasuke looked up and gave the teacher his attention.

“The principal would like to see you.”

The room ‘oohed’ and Sasuke stood up with a roll of his eyes, grabbing his book bag from underneath the desk.

“He's innocent!” Sakura screeched, standing up from her seat. “I demand his freedom!”

“Shut up and sit down!” Kiba yelled at her.

“Inuzuka! Language! And Miss Haruno, please sit down.” The teacher reprimanded.

Sasuke left the room and walked down the hallway, making his way to the principal's. The warning bell rung and students were quickly scurrying through the halls trying to get to their classes. He let out a sigh when the bell rung again and the halls were empty.

He finally made it to the principal’s office. He opened the door to see Shizune, principal Tsunade’s secretary. She gave him a bright smile.

“Good morning, Sasuke. Have a seat, Tsunade will be with you in just a moment.

Sasuke nodded and did as he was told and not long after Tsunade came out of her office.

“Follow me, Uchiha.” She waved him over and Sasuke got up.

He sat in a seat in front of her desk. “So what's up?” He asked, watching her sit down in front of him. He wasn't normally a student that caused trouble but being friends with Kiba, he became acquainted with the principal soon enough.

“We're getting a new student tomorrow and I want you to show them around.”

Sasuke groaned and threw his head back. “Why can't you get Neji to do it?”

“Neji can be a little,” she paused, trying to find the right words, her honey-colored eyes searching the air. “Intense.”

Sasuke scoffed. “Okay, but why me? There's so many other kids in the school who can do it.”

Tsunade nodded her head. “That's true. But you're schedule is almost exactly the same as his, it'll be easier for him.”

Sasuke perked up. A guy? That was better news, happy that he wouldn't have to have some girl fawning over him. He thought it over before nodding. “Alright, I'll do it.”

Tsunade smiled at him, a mischievous look in her eye. “Not like you had much of a choice anyways.” She waved him off as he glared at her. “Now get back to class.”

He nodded once before picking up his bag and heading out the door.

The bell letting out homeroom rang and soon the halls were filled with students trying to get to their first period class.

Sasuke headed to his history class. When he walked into the room, he was surprised to see a different teacher instead of an empty desk. He gave a shrug of his shoulders and sat down in his usual seat.

“So what was that about?” Neji asked from behind him.

“Showing a new kid around the school.” Sasuke said with a shrug.

“Speaking of new kids,” Sakura came over, sitting on top of Sasuke's desk. Both Neji and Sasuke rolled their eyes. “I heard Kakashi-sensei is out because him and Iruka are taking in a foster kid.”

“So?” Neji questioned, not caring about the information.

“That's probably who you'll be showing around.” Sakura directed her answer to Sasuke.

“Whatever. As long as it's not some clingy girl those are the worst.” Sasuke smirked at her. Neji snickered behind him.

Sakura snorted and flipped her hair over her shoulder. “I know, they are.” She stood up and gave them both a smile. “Anyways, I'll see you around, Sasuke.” She gave him a wink before sauntering off to her desk.

“She doesn't even get the hint.” Sasuke said with a shake of his head.

“And she never will.” Neji patted his shoulder in pity. 

Sasuke walked off the bus and headed home. He noticed Itachi’s car wasn't in the driveway.

He made his way up the stairs and into his mother’s room.

“Hey mom.” He greeted her, sitting on the chair next to her bed. “Nothing really special happened today. Except for two things. I woke up with no bruises today, a first in a long time!” He watched her carefully but didn't see any reaction that she was listening. He sighed.

“Also, I'll be showing a new kid around the school tomorrow. I'm just happy it's not some girl who's going to cling on to me and follow me everywhere.” He let out another sigh and sat back in his seat. “Yeah, it was a good day.”

There was a knock on the door and Sasuke turned to see Itachi standing in the doorway. “Wanna order a pizza?” He waved his cell phone in his hand.

Sasuke gave him a smirk. “Sure.” He got up and followed his brother to the kitchen where they decided on what pizza to get.

Once dinner was finished and Sasuke completed all his homework, he lied on his bed and for once in a very long time, he didn't feel like cutting


	6. Chapter 6

Naruto was shaken awake the next morning. Through blurry eyes, he saw the counselor and groaned in frustration, turning to his side.

"Get up, Naruto." The counselor crossed his arms over his chest and sternly glared at the blonde.

"Five more minutes, come on!" He pulled the covers over his head. In a matter of seconds, they were not too gently, thrown off of him. "Fine! Alright, I'm up!" He swung his legs over the side of the bed and glared up at the man.

"Get dressed and pack up, then come straight to my office." He nodded at the blonde before walking away.

Naruto sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He looked at his wrist which had fresh, new, bright red marks. He frowned and lightly ran a finger over them. He sighed once again before standing up and beginning to pack his things.

When he was finished, which took no longer than fifteen minutes, he went to the counselor's office. As he opened the door, the counselor was sitting at his next, next to him a social worker that he didn't recognize, and two guys sitting in front of the desk, facing away from him.

"Ah, Naruto!" The counselor looked up from the pair and stood up. "Meet your new foster parents!"

Naruto looked on in surprise as the two turned around to reveal two males, one who had silver hair and was wearing some type of scarf to cover his lower face, and the other a brunette who smiled at him warmly. "You two are my new foster parents?"

"There's not a problem, is there?" The silver haired man's eyes closed in what Naruto assumed was a smile, though his voice held a hint of anger.

He put his hands up in a surrendering position and shook his head. "No, no problem. Just a little surprised is all."

The brunette waved the other man off. "Don't mind him too much, he can be a little, ah, eccentric. I'm Iruka by the way, and this is my husband, Kakashi. We're very excited to meet you, Naruto!"

He gave the couple a once over before nodding his head. "Ditto."

"Naruto!" The counselor hissed. "Be polite."

Naruto scowled, not saying anything more.

"No worries! We encourage Naruto to be himself, no need to act differently for us." Kakashi said to the counselor.

"Be careful what you wish for, this one's a handful." The social worker spoke up, turning her nose at the blonde.

"No need to talk like I'm not here!" Naruto retorted.

"Alright, enough." The counselor sighed. "You have all your stuff packed?"

He nodded, holding up his duffel bag and shrugging his shoulder that held his book bag.

"Alright, let's go home, Naruto." Iruka smiled at him brightly as he stood up.

Naruto felt a warm feeling in his chest and he smiled as he followed the two outside and into their car.

Kakashi sat in the driver's seat while Iruka sat in the passenger seat and turned around to face Naruto who climbed into the backseat.

"How are you in school?" Iruka asked.

Naruto shrugged. "I do pretty good. Mostly B's."

Iruka smiled brightly at him. "That's good! Kakashi teaches History and I teach English at Konoha High, which is where you'll be going starting tomorrow."

Naruto groaned out loud. "I have to start school already? No break?"

Iruka and Kakashi laughed. "No way, kiddo!" Kakashi gave him a look through the rearview mirror. "I think you'll like it there though."

Naruto looked out the window, arms crossed over his chest. "No one likes the new kid, it's just going to be the same as any other school. Kids never change."

Iruka frowned and turned to look at Kakashi.

The rest of the car ride was filled with an awkward silence. But they soon arrived to their destination when Iruka announced they were home.

Naruto looked at the two-story house that he was going to be calling home, for however long that would be. The house was a light blue in color and was a simple colonial-style home. The front had a simple but nice garden with a cherry tree.

Naruto whistled as he got out of the car. "This is a nice house you got! Do you have any other foster kids living here?"

Iruka grabbed Kakashi's hand and started walking to the front door, Naruto following close behind them. "No, actually, you're our first foster child. We're planning on adopting a kid of our own one day." He smiled up at Kakashi who placed a light kiss on his forehead and opened the door.

Naruto frowned as he stepped into the house, a sudden feeling of sadness at Iruka's words. He sighed lightly and watched as Iruka began to go up the stairs. He stood awkwardly in front of the door, bags in hand.

Halfway up the steps, Iruka stopped to see Naruto still standing there. "You can follow me, Naruto. I'll show you to your new room." He waved for Naruto to follow him and the blonde quickly ran up the steps to catch up with him.

Naruto followed him down the hall.

"This is technically your bathroom." Iruka pointed out the first door they came to and Naruto peeked inside to see a bare bathroom that had a shower, bathtub combination along with a toilet and a sink with counter space. "Our room is over there." He pointed behind the blonde and Naruto turned to see an open bedroom that had a double bed, the rest hidden from view. "And your room is across the hall from your bathroom, right here." Naruto looked in and saw an empty room, with only a full-size bed that had white sheets and a folded blanket with two pillows, and a dresser. "Feel free to decorate it as you please." Iruka gave him a smile. "Our computer room slash office is straight down the hall. We haven't set up an account on the computer for you yet so just ask one of us if you need to use it. And then we have an art studio in the room next to it, so if you want to dabble in something artsy, we can get you set up."

"This is a lot to take in." Naruto said with a chuckle.

"Go ahead and take your time unpacking. We'll just be starting dinner. Do you have any allergies or something you don't like?" He looked at Naruto, excitedly.

"I don't like broccoli." Naruto said, scrunching up his nose.

Iruka laughed. "Okay, I'll keep that in mind from now on. Make yourself at home!" He left Naruto alone and headed down the steps.

Naruto looked around the room before smiling brightly. "I think I'm going to like it here!"


	7. Chapter 7

Naruto woke up to the sound of his alarm, looking wildly around the room. He took in a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair. "Shit, it wasn't a dream." He let out a laugh before standing up and began to get ready for the day.

When he was finished, he walked down the stairs and into the kitchen where he saw Kakashi making breakfast and Iruka setting the table. Iruka looked up and smiled brightly at him.

"How was your first night? Did you sleep well? Here, have a seat!" He pulled out a chair and gestured for him to sit down.

"Yeah, it was great." Naruto gave him a small smile. "Thank you again. I really appreciate this."

Iruka placed a hand over his heart and smiled down at him. "Oh there's no need to thank us!"

"Breakfast is ready!" Kakashi announced, holding up the pan of eggs.

"Kakashi, love, let's be careful with a hot pan of food and just keep it on a level surface." Iruka slowly walked closer to him before grabbing his wrist and gently lowering it so that the pan was back on the burner.

Naruto snickered and Kakashi looked back at him with a wink.

Iruka got the plates ready and set them on the table. The three of them enjoyed a quick breakfast.

"You have everything ready?" Iruka asked as he took Naruto's empty plate and palced it in the sink.

"Yeah, I didn't have much stuff to begin with." Naruto stood up with a shrug, slinging his book bag over his shoulder.

Iruka clapped his hands together. "Over the weekend, we'll all go shopping so you can get better school supplies and new clothes, if you want to of course."

"Maa, Iruka!" Kakashi whined. "Do we all have to go shopping?"

Iruka glared down at Kakashi who was leaning backwards in his chair. "Yes. All of us."

Kakashi put his hands up in surrender before sitting up in his chair and then standing. "Alright, alright." He turned to face Naruto. "Ready to go, kiddo?"

Naruto nodded and followed the couple out of the house and to their car. He climbed into the backseat and buckled up.

"Now, we'll drop you off at the principal's office and there you'll meet your student escort for the day." Iruka stated as he turned to face him from the passenger's seat.

"His name is Sasuke." Kakashi looked into the rearview mirror to look at Naruto. "He's a good kid, quiet and a little bit of a loner."

Naruto groaned. "He's not some kind of a weirdo, is he?"

The two men laughed. Iruka shook his head. "No, he just likes to keep to himself and his two best friends."

Naruto gave him a skeptical look before shrugging. "Guess there's not much I can do about it anyways."

"That's the spirit!"Kakashi said excitedly.

When they arrived at the school, busses were just beginning to drop off students. As the three of them walked through the hallways, students would stop and stare at them.

Naruto felt himself get self-conscious from the stares of the other students. He kept his gaze to the ground as he followed Iruka and Kakashi to what he assumed was the principal's office.

"Here we are!" Iruka said with a smile as he stopped in front of a door.

Naruto stared at it, not moving.

"What's wrong?" Iruka asked worriedly. "Everything okay?"

Naruto nodded. He shook his head and smiled up at him. "Just a little nervous is all. Thanks for showing me the way. See you later!"

"You can come to either of our classrooms after class and we can give you a ride." Kakashi mentioned as Naruto walked in.

Naruto nodded his head in acknowledgement before giving them a wave and shutting the door. He let out a deep breath as he turned and walked into the room.

Sitting at the reception desk was a dark-haired woman and standing in front of her desk was a tall, busty, blonde woman. He eyed them before glancing over at a kid who was sitting in one of the chairs with his arms crossed. He has black hair that was styled oddly in Naruto's opinion.

"Ah, you must be Naruto Uzumaki." The blonde woman spoke up.

Naruto nodded, not making a move. "That I am."

"I'm Tsunade, the principal of Konoha High." She stood up and held out her hand for Naruto to take. "This here, is Sasuke Uchiha. He will be showing you around the school for the duration of the day." She gestured to the boy sitting.

"Hn, nice to meet you." Sasuke stood up and nodded.

"Ditto." Naruto responded.

"Here is your schedule," Tsunade handed him a sheet of paper. "And you will also get a locker assignment where you'll have your school planner, a tote bag and a water bottle."

Naruto's eyes widened. "For free?"

Tsunade chuckled. "Yep, it's all for you. Every student got one at the beginning of the year."

"Cool." Naruto responded with a smile as he looked over his schedule.

"You two will have the same schedule except for your elective class. Iruka signed you up for studio arts. Since it's too far in the semester, we cannot change it."

Naruto shrugged. "Fine by me. I'm down to get my art on."

"That's the spirit." Tsunade clapped her hand on his shoulder. "Now, head to your first class before the warning bell rings."

As soon as she ended her sentence, the bell rang signaling the five minute period before classes started.

"Woah." Naruto stared at her in azament.

"Come on, let's get going." Sasuke grabbed Naruto's wrist and began to drag him out of the office.

"Did you see that?" Naruto asked in amazement, looking back over his shoulder towards the office door. "Now only is she a MILF, she's a fucking psychic."

Sasuke scrunched up his nose and scoffed. "She's not a psychic. She's been doing this for thirty years, it's probably all automatic by now."

"Predicting something that's going to happen and being right about it, is proof you're a psychic."

Sasuke shook his head and stopped in front of a locker. "This is your locker. Mine is right across the hall." He pointed to the other side of the wall. "I'll be right back."

Naruto scoffed. "Not like I'm going to get lost." He more so mumbled to himself out loud.

The warning bell rung and the hall filled with students frantically trying to get to class. Naruto closed his locker after shoving the bag, water bottle and planner in his actual backpack. He looked across the hall to see that Sasuke wasn't there anymore. He scratched his head in confusion before looking both ways and shrugging. "Well shit, guess I am lost."

Just as he was about to take a step, a hand landed on his shoulder and he turned to see Sasuke. "Ready for study hall?" He asked.

Naruto nodded once before trailing after Sasuke.

They reached the room and Sasuke walked up to the desk where he handed a sheet of paper to the teacher who nodded.

"Come on." Sasuke gestured with his head towards the back of the room.

Naruto followed Sasuke to the back of the room where there were two empty desks. He looked at his classmates nervously, expecting harsh glares or mocking looks. Hardly any of them gave him more than a glance or a smile and he sat down in his seat, letting out his breath. "This is a new experience." He mumbled out loud to himself.

"Hm?" Sasuke looked up from getting his homework out of his bag to look at Naruto. "What are you talking about?"

Naruto gestured towards the front. "All of this. I was expecting a lot more, darker looks, I guess."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow before shrugging. "This school is pretty cool. People don't really get teased or out casted here. But I still stick to myself." He started to do the math problems that were on the sheet of paper in front of him.

"Why's that?" Naruto asked, genuinely confused.

Sasuke paused in his writing before continuing writing. "I only need my two best friends. Everyone else wants something from me."

"Have they said that for a fact?"

Sasuke looked up from his work to look at Naruto who was staring at him with a look of curiosity. "I mean, no. But, the girls only want to be friends with me because of my looks or money. And guys just want to hang out with me because the girls want to hang around me."

"But you don't know that for a fact. Maybe they genuinely want to get to know you. People who are by themselves seem mysterious and people are just generally curious."

Sasuke placed his pencil down, deciding to engage in conversation instead of finishing his work. "What's your deal? Why are you so insistent on me having more friends?"

Naruto shrugged. "Just all the schools I've been too, people aren't very nice. I've honestly never really had a real friend before. And just knowing that people actually want to get to know you instead of laugh at you, I just wonder why you don't take the opportunity."

Sasuke studied the blonde before him. He saw no apparent reason why the blonde wouldn't be liked. He wasn't ugly, he seemed like a decent person. "I'm just not a real people person is all it is. I like keeping to myself."

Naruto stared at him and Sasuke decided to go back to his math homework. He smiled to himself before clapping his hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "Well, whether you like it or not, you've got me as a friend now."

Sasuke looked towards the grinning blonde before shaking his head with a small smile. "Whatever you say, Naruto."

The first half of the day passed by quickly for the two and they got along well. As they were heading towards the cafeteria for lunch, Naruto talked about mindless chatter while Sasuke guided them, not saying much.

Once they reached the cafeteria, Sasuke led them to his usual table where Kiba and Neji were already sitting.

"Naruto, meet my two best friends, Neji Hyuuga and Kiba Inuzuka." He sat down on the bench and Naruto sat down next to him. "Guys, this is Naruto Uzumaki."

Naruto nodded towards the group. "Sup?"

Kiba leaned back in his seat and nodded back.

"How's the school treating you so far, Naruto?" Neji asked, a polite smile on his face.

"Surprisingly, pretty good. I was expecting a lot more bullying to be honest." Naruto replied.

Kiba scoffed. "Bully's? At this school? The meanest people are the two you're already sitting with."

Both Sasuke and Neji gave a glare at Kiba and Naruto laughed loudly. "Well, neither of them even seem mean."

"Just wait till you get to know them." Kiba mumbled, arms crossed over his chest. "Won't even let me copy their homework."

Neji rolled his eyes before Sasuke looked at him, slightly offended. "I let you copy my homework the other day. I'm nice!"

Kiba waved him off. "Yeah, yeah."

Sasuke scoffed before going back to his food. "Alright, see if I let you copy my homework again."

Kiba's eyes widened and he pouted at the raven while Meji snickered. Kiba quickly turned his gaze to Naruto. "You'd let me copy your homework, right?"

Naruto shrugged. "Sure."

Kiba grinned in triumph and stuck his tongue out at Sasuke and Neji. "See, I don't need you guys. I got my new best friend right here!" He threw his arm around Naruto's shoulder.

Naruto felt happy at Kiba's words and he gave Neji and Sasuke a wide grin. "So, you guys into pranks?"

Sasuke let out a scoff and scrunched up his nose in disgust. "Pranks? What are we ten?"

Neji snickered as he took a bite of his food.

Kiba gave a glare to the two then turned his attention to Naruto, eyes wide in happiness. "You have no idea how long I've waited for someone to join in on my pranks. Here, I've got a whole bunch of ideas." He began to dig around in his book bag and Naruto eagerly waited for him.

"Looks like he really did find a new best friend." Neji said, surprised when the two started to giggle over Kiba's notebook.

Sasuke didn't say anything, instead shaking his head and finishing his lunch.

After lunch, Sasuke had creative writing while Naruto was placed in an art class.

Sasuke led the blonde to his class. "You know where your locker is from here, right?"

Naruto carefully thought it over. "Yeah, I remember."

"As soon as the bell rings, meet me there." He instructed just as the warning bell for class rung. He waved before walking away.

Naruto took a deep breath and walked into the class. All eyes turned to look at him and he nervously headed towards the teacher's desk.

"Hello, my name's Naruto. I'm new here."

"Welcome Naruto," the teacher, a pretty brunette smiled at him. "We're currently in the middle of a project. We're working with oil paint. Fantasy landscapes is the theme. You can go have a seat next to Sakura, she's the one with the pink hair, and she'll show you where to find everything."

Naruto nodded at her before turning around and heading towards the girl named Sakura. He stopped and sat down in the stool next to her. "Hi, I'm Naruto. The teacher told me to ask you about where to find everything?"

Sakura paused in her work and studied the blonde carefully. "You're Kakashi and Iruka's foster child, right?"

Naruto blushed and nodded.

Sakura looked him over once more before smiling brightly at him and holding out her hand. "Sakura Haruno. I know everything there is to know about this school so if you ever need info, come find me."

"And I'm-"

She held up a manicured hand and smirked. "Naruto Uzumaki. Its okay, I heard from Neji and Kiba who you were. Me and Sasuke are super close and everything so it's obvious his friends tell me everything." She gave a confident look and flipped her hair over her shoulder.

Naruto looked at her in surprise and mild confusion. "Weird, he never mentioned you all day today."

Sakura looked away and then back to him. "He's probably just shy about it."

Naruto thought about it before shrugging and looking around the room. "So, about those art supplies?"

Sakura giggled before standing up and leading him to where the canvas' and paint were.

After art, Naruto met Sasuke at his locker.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow as he pushed himself off the locker he was leaning against. "I'm actually surprised you made it. I was betting on you getting lost, you seem like you'd lose your head it if wasn't attached to your body.""

Naruto glared at him as he opened his locker. "And I thought you were gonna be a real asshole, oh wait."

Sasuke just smirked at the blonde before guiding him to their next class.

The rest of the day passed smoothly for Naruto and soon enough, he was saying bye to Kiba, Neji and Sasuke. He walked back into the school and headed into Iruka's classroom.

He wasn't surprised to see Kakashi in there sitting on the top of Iruka's desk. Once the door was opened, the two teachers turned to see who it was. Iruka gave him a smile.

"How was your first day, kiddo?" Kakashi asked, his eyes forming an upside 'u' as he smiled.

Naruto sat down in the one of the front desks of the room, throwing his book bag on top of the desk. He rested his chin in the palm of his hand and gave them a thoughtful look. "Pretty uneventful."

Iruka and Kakashi looked at each other, frowning. They turned to give him their attention.

He smirked at them."But it was one of the best days I've had in a long time."

Iruka laughed in relief, a hand placed over his chest. "Really?"

Naruto looked back and forth between the two and grinned. "Really."


	8. Chapter 8

Sasuke woke up the next morning and was filled with relief when he once again woke up with no pain. He took his time waking up and getting ready.

By the time he was finished, he walked down the stairs only to find an empty kitchen. He frowned as he looked for his brother but couldn't find him. He walked back to his room and texted his brother.

A minute after he sent the text, a phone call came through. "Hello?" He answered quickly.

"Sasuke," Itachi replied. "I forgot to let you know, I wouldn't be able to take you to school today. I had an important business meeting to attend to this morning."

Sasuke let out an impatient sigh. "Okay."

"I'm really sorry."

Sasuke could feel himself getting annoyed and he scowled at his bedroom floor. "Yeah, whatever." He hung up the phone before getting up and beginning the walk to school.

Twenty minutes into his walk, he heard a car horn behind him. He stopped and looked over his shoulder to see Naruto waving at him from the back window of a car. "Need a ride?"

Sasuke blinked before giving him a smirk and walking over to the car. "Thanks."

"No problem, Sasuke!" Kakashi smiled at him through the rearview mirror.

Iruka turned around in his seat and smiled at the raven. "How's everything going? He was good yesterday right?"

Sasuke nodded. "Good. And yeah, no trouble."

"Hey! I'm right here you know." Naruto grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

The car ride was filled with minor chit chat until they reached the school.

"We'll drop you boys off here so we don't embarrass you." Iruka said as Kakashi pulled over to the side of the road.

"Nonsense! If anything, they'll embarrass us!" Kakashi began to laugh. Iruka shook his head while Naruto and Sasuke gave each other looks.

"Alright, see you guys later!" Naruto closed the car door and watched them drive away. "Damn, talk about embarrassing." He sheepishly laughed, rubbing the back of his hand.

"Hey," Sasuke grabbed his arm, pulling it closer to himself. "That's a pretty cool wristband."

Naruto quickly took back his arm, nervously twisting it around his wrist. "Uh, thanks."

"Everything okay?" Sasuke asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, of course! Come on, let's get to class!" Naruto quickly dragged Sasuke away and into the school building.

"Naruto!" Kiba called out once the pair walked into their homeroom class.

"Kiba!" The two gave each other a fist bump and Neji rolled his eyes as Sasuke sat down.

"What did we start, hm?" Neji asked, going back to some of his last minute homework.

"Hn." Sasuke replied, too busy staring at Naruto. He looked at the wristband on his wrist.

"Right Sasuke?" Kiba directed a question to the raven and Sasuke shook his head to give his attention to Naruto and Kiba who were looking expectantly at him.

"What?"

Neji snorted. "You seem out of it."

Sasuke glanced at Neji before looking back. "What was your question?"

Kiba stared at the raven. "I was saying, it's a relief that Sakura has those meetings this week."

"Uh, sure. I don't really care." Sasuke replied as he turned in his seat to face forward.

"I don't know. She seemed nice to me." Naruto replied with a shrug. "Anyways, let me tell you about this great idea I had last night!"

Sasuke tuned out of their conversation, thinking about the past two days. He was happy that he wasn't in any pain but it raised some concern for his soulmate. He hoped everything was okay.

"What's on your mind?" Neji whispered to him.

"Just hope everything is okay with my soulmate." He kept his voice low, not wanting to involve Naruto and Kiba.

"I'm pretty sure it is. You would feel something if it wasn't."

"I'd hope so."

The two fell into silence and soon the bell rang for the next class to begin.

For the rest of the day, Sasuke felt himself going through the motions. Thankfully, Naruto didn't seem to pry into his business, instead filling the silence with his own voice talking about things that weren't really important.

At the end of the day, as he was saying his goodbyes to Neji, kiba and Naruto in the front of the school, Kakashi and Iruka appeared.

Neji and Kiba politely said their goodbyes, leaving Naruto and Sasuke alone with the two teachers.

"You want a ride home, Sasuke?" Iruka asked the raven.

Sasuke looked over to Naruto who shrugged in response. He faced the brunette. "Yes please."

"No need to be so formal, Sasuke. We're people too." Kakashi laughed.

Naruto snickered as Sasuke's cheeks slightly slushed. "Yeah Sasuke, teachers are people too."

"Shut up." He hissed.

The car ride was quick and Sasuke thanked his teachers for the ride before saying goodbye.

He walked up the stairs and into his mother's room. He sat down in the chair and stared down at her.

She seemed to be looking up at the ceiling, not in her usual comatose state but a more so not really here look.

"Not much really happened today, mom." Sasuke started, grabbing her hand. "I'm more worried about my soulmate though. I haven't woken up in pain these past two days, and it's been a long time since this has happened. I'm getting worried. Neji said not to because if something did happen to her, I would've felt it. Kind of like you." He paused but didn't see any reaction. "But I'm really starting to like Naruto, I think we're going to be friends." He smiled to himself and then looked over at his mother.

His eyes widened.

She was smiling up at the ceiling.

Sasuke quickly stood up and hovered over her. "Mom?!"

She glanced at him briefly, the smile still on her face before it slowly started to disappear and was once again replaced by a void look.

Sasuke quickly scrambled down the stairs just as Itachi was finished setting up the table.

"Oh good, I was just about to call you down." Itachi said. "I made burgers."

"Itachi, guess what! Mom-"

Itachi cut him off with his hand. "Let me at least start my dinner before you start with this."

"But Itachi,-"

"Sasuke!" He gave his little brother a glare.

Sasuke snapped his mouth shut and sat down in his seat, waiting for his brother.

He watched impatiently as Itachi set up the food and began to eat. He refused to touch his plate.

With an impatient sigh, Itachi set down his burger. "What, Sasuke?"

"Mom smiled at me! She actually smiled!" Sasuke stated, practically flinging himself across the table,

Itachi closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. "Like I've told you before, Sasuke. It was just a-"

"No!" Sasuke slammed his fist on the table. "I was telling her my story and she smiled at me. She was staring at the ceiling and smiling and when I went to look down at her, she looked me in the eye!"

"Enough!" Itachi snapped, standing from his chair. "I'm fucking sick of hearing about this, Sasuke! She's not coming back from this! Doctor's have tried everything and nothing works! When the fuck are you going to grow up and accept the fact that that woman in her bed is not our mother? Huh?! Stop this fucking nonsense, Sasuke!"

Sasuke was taken aback at his brother's outburst. He didn't say anything as he left his unfinished plate on the table and slowly walked into his room.

Once he was on his bed, he allowed himself to let out tears he was holding back. He took out his razor from his nightstand. He stared at the metal object before making the first cut.

The physical pain was a relief from what he was feeling inside. He cut himself a few more times before placing it back in its place and cleaning up.

He decided to skip his homework that night and went straight to sleep, hoping that tomorrow would be a better day.


	9. Chapter 9

Naruto woke up in his bed, a stinging pain in his wrist. He sighed in disappointment before slowly sitting up in his bed.

Staring at his wrist, he ran a hand through his hair and felt himself get upset. "I should be there for her." He mumbled to himself.

He felt angry and frustrated, not being able to do anything. He clenched his fists, itching for a fight to let out his aggression. Finally getting the motivation to get up, he decided later he would head to his old neighborhood to look for a fight there.

He got dressed and ready and headed down the stairs and into the kitchen. He sat down at the table and Kakashi set a plate of eggs in front of him before sitting down in his own seat.

"How are you settling in so far?" Iruka asked, a smile on his face.

Naruto stayed silent, instead taking a bite of his food.

Kakashi and Iruka gave each other a look, frowning at the lack of response. "Are you adjusting to the school well? No troubles?"

He took another bite before slowly shaking his head, indicating a no. He gently pushed his plate away. "I'm not feeling really hungry."

"Okay, no problem." Iruka quickly picked up the plate, walking it to the sink. "We're just gonna finish up here and then we'll be ready to go."

Naruto nodded before leaving the kitchen to grab his book bag.

The three of them drove to the high school, the ride filled with silence. Kakakshi and Iruka dropped Naruto off into the front before driving away to the parking lot.

"Naruto!" The blonde looked up to see Kiba waving at him, just having stepped off the bus. He smiled before catching up to Kiba.

"Hey, what's up?" Naruto asked as soon as he caught up with him.

"I didn't finish my math homework." Kiba groaned as they walked into the building. He looked expectantly at Naruto, eyes wide. "Can I copy yours?"

Naruto laughed. "I didn't even do it myself."

Kiba stared at him in disbelief. "What do I even keep you around for?" He shook his head.

They reached their home room where they met up with Neji and two sat down in their desks in front of the brunettes and turned so they were facing them.

"Sup guys?" Kiba greeted with a toothy grin.

Sasuke nodded in return and Neji gave a quick wave. "You did your homework?"

"Nope." He turned to look at Sasuke. "You gonna help me out?"

He raised an eyebrow before rolling his eyes. "Seriously, it's getting old." He took out his papers and handed them to Kiba.

Naruto raised an eyebrow as he watched Sasuke. "How can you be wearing a long sleeve shirt? It's so hot."

Sasuke quickly crossed his arms across his chest and shrugged. "I don't feel it."

Kiba waved him off. "He's just trying to hide as much skin from Sakura as possible." Neji and Kiba both snickered.

Naruto tilted his head to the side. "Why? She seems like a nice girl."

Sasuke gave him a crazed look while Neji and Kiba both started to laugh. "Are we talking about the same girl?"

Naruto stared at the three of them. "The pink-haired one, right?"

"You talking about me?"

The four of them looked up and behind Kiba and Naruto to see Sakura glaring at them with her hands on her hips.

Naruto smiled up at her while the other three looked away. "Hey Sakura, yeah we were! I was talking about how nice you were, and pretty."

She blinked, dropping her hands from her hips. She blushed and tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. "Really?"

He nodded at her.

"Wow, thanks Naruto!" She waved before heading over to her own group of friends.

Kiba looked after her. "That was the quickest interaction with her ever."

"Naruto, keep complimenting her." Neji responded.

Sasuke shook his head. " That's just going to inflate her ego. Just leave it be."

Naruto rolled his eyes at Sasuke's answers. "Girls need confidence boosters too."

The bell rang, signaling the start of the day. Naruto once again followed Sasuke throughout the day to get the hang of where his classes were. They went their separate ways for their electives, Naruto heading to art.

He walked into the room and spotted Sakura, he smiled and quickly sat down next to her. "Hey, Sakura!"

She looked up from her phone and smiled once she saw who it was. "Hey, Naruto. How's your day been going?"

"It's okay, still following Sasuke around to try and get the hang of things."

"So you have all your classes with him?"

"All except this one."

"That's pretty cool." The warning bell went off. Sakura stood up from her seat. "Let's go get our painting stuff."

The two got up and got their painting supplies. The two started their work while getting to know each other more.

Despite Naruto having a genuinely good day, he still couldn't get over the mild sting he felt in his wrists.

At the end of the day, he stopped into Kakashi's classroom. "Hey you guys?"

Iruka was sitting on top of Kakashi's desk and he turned to look over his shoulder. "Oh hey, you waiting for a ride?"

Naruto shook his head from the doorway. "I'm actually gonna be hanging out with some friends today so I'll be back later."

Iruka smiled brightly at him while Kakashi nodded. "Alright that sounds great, be safe."

Naruto left the school and headed out of the campus area. He walked to the nearest bus stop and hopped on.

It was about a thirty minute ride to his old neighborhood where the group home was. As he got off at the stop, the people gave him dirty looks as he walked past. He ignored them as he spotted the three older kids he's been waiting to see all day.

Lewis was the first to spot him and nudged Brandon and Kyler to point him out. He stood there and waited for them to walk over to him.

"You got the money for our phone, Uzumaki?" Kyler asked, a smug grin on his face as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Naruto shrugged. "Nope."

"Then why are you here?" Brandon glared down at him. "Don't you got your fancy life to go back to with your fags of foster parents?"

Naruto glared at the three of them as they started to laugh. "Shut the fuck up." He stepped forward and tried to take a swing at Kyler but his fist was easily caught by the taller boy.

"Aw did we struck a nerve?" Kyler leaned forward, smirk present on his face.

Naruto took the opportunity to strike with his left fist and got him on the side of his face.

"You shouldn't have done that." Kyler nodded towards Naruto and Brandon and Lewis quickly jumped him, getting in some good hits before Kyler joined in.

After what seemed like an eternity, the three boys stopped, panting and smirking at the damage they did.

Naruto was lying on the ground, bruised from torso to legs. He lied there, trying to catch his breath and struggled to get up.

"Don't bother." Lewis placed his foot on top of his chest and pushed him back down.

"Don't come back here unless you have our money." Kyler spat on him and the three of them walked away.

Naruto looked up at the sky, his anger only building. He sat up and groaned in pain. He ran a hand through his hair before making the effort to stand up.

Not wanting to go home just yet, he decided to walk.

By the time he got home, it was past dark. He quietly opened the front door to see a worried Iruka pacing the foyer floor. He looked towards the door and sighed in relief. "Naruto!" He ran up and pulled him into his arms. "I was so worried, what happened?"

Naruto quickly gave him a reassuring smile. "Sorry, I lost track of time and then I got lot walking back home."

"Why didn't you ask for a ride?" Kakashi asked, walking in from the kitchen.

"I didn't want to bother you guys."

"Nonsense!" Iruka let him go and stood next to Kakashi. "We saved some dinner for you. It's barbeque chicken."

Naruto shook his head and gave them a tired smile. "No thank you, I'm just going to finish my homework and head to bed, if that's okay."

"No problem, kiddo." Kakashi smiled at him. "Next time though, if you're running late, just call."

"Alright!" Naruto quickly headed up the stairs and into his room. He undressed and looked at himself in the mirror. He could see some bruises beginning to form and he frowned as he lightly touched one. With a sigh, he changed into his night clothes and headed to bed.


	10. Chapter 10

Sasuke woke up, his body aching terribly. He groaned in pain and tried sitting up, only to wince as the pain because too much. Pulling open the drawer to his nightstand, he grabbed the bottle of aspirin that he uses when the pain is too much to handle.

After taking two pills, he slowly got up and began to get ready for the school day.

It wasn't until he was finished getting ready and was heading downstairs that the aspirin kicked in and the pain turned into a dull ache. He walked into the kitchen and saw his brother sitting at the table, a bagel and some fruit on a plate where he sat.

As Sasuke sat down in his chair, Itachi looked up from his phone.

"About last night," he started, placing his phone face down on the table. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at his brother then continued to look down at his plate, spreading cream cheese on his bagel. "I'm sorry for getting upset. Work was just very stressful, it wasn't very fair of me to take it out on you."

"Do you believe me about mom?"

Itachi let out a breath. "No."

Sasuke shrugged and said nothing.

"How are you feeling today?"

Sasuke impatiently placed his half eaten bagel back on his plate and scooted back and out of his chair. "I'll be waiting in the car."

Itachi soon followed after Sasuke. The ride to the school was silent, neither Uchiha willing to talk. As Itachi pulled up to the front of the school, Sasuke said a quick goodbye before hurrying to meet up with his friends.

"Sasuke!" Kiba waved frantically at the raven, Neji and Naruto gathered around him. Naruto smiled brightly at him, also waving. Neji gave a simple wave.

"Hey." Sasuke greeted when he finally met up with him.

"What's wrong with you?" Naruto asked as they headed to their homeroom.

"Sasuke has a, complicated soulmate." Neji briefly explained to him.

Naruto's eyes widened. "No shit?" He looked to Sasuke who looked ready to pass out. He gently placed a hand on the raven's shoulder. "I know the feeling."

Sasuke looked the blonde up and down before raising an eyebrow. "You're soulmate is in trouble too?"

Naruto paused in his thoughts before giving Sasuke a sad smile. "Yeah, something like that."

They reached the classroom and took their seats. Kiba leaned forward in his seat. "Looks like you two have more in common then you think."

Naruto nudged Sasuke with his elbow, smirking at him. "Seems like it."

The bell soon rung and classes began. Sasuke stayed quiet throughout most of the day, allowing Naruto to talk, barely responding to any of the couldn't help but to think of Naruto going through what he was.

Before he realized, it was the end of the school day and the four of them were saying goodbye. Kiba and Neji walked away and Naruto was about to head back into the building to head to Iruka's classroom.

"Naruto," Sasuke heard himself speak up. Naruto stopped and turned around to face him. "Do you want to come over?"

Naruto's eyes widened. "Really?" He waited for Sasuke to nod before he smiled brightly at him. "Yeah cool! Can I use your phone real quick?"

Sasuke handed him his phone and he watched as Naruto dialed a number and placed the phone to his ear.

"Iruka? It's Naruto. I'm going to Sasuke's house, is that okay?" There was a pause and Naruto looked to Sasuke and gave him a thumbs up. "Alright I'll call you if it's getting late." He hung up the phone and handed it back to Sasuke. "Alright, let's go!"

Sasuke guided the two of them to his bus and chose a seat closer to the front.

"Are you doing okay?" Naruto asked once the bus began to start.

"Huh?" Sasuke questioned.

"It's just, you seemed out of it all day today. I was just wondering if you were okay." He asked nervously.

"Yeah. I've just been thinking about a lot of stuff." Sasuke brushed Naruto's concern off.

Naruto studied the raven carefully before giving him a gentle push. He let out a small snicker. "You know, for someone who has two friends, you don't know much about friendship, do you?"

Sasuke gave him a glare. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"I'm just sayin'" Naruto shrugged. "I had no friends but even I know that friends are supposed to make life easier. If you're struggling with something, or need to get something off your mind, you can talk to your friends."

Sasuke let out a sigh. "I know. I just don't know if I'm ready to reveal what's going on."

Naruto nodded in understanding. "I get it. But just know, whenever you're ready to talk about it, I'm here to listen."

The bus stopped and Sasuke stood up from his seat. "This is me." He stepped out, Naruto following close behind. They walked off the bus and down the street.

"Here it is." Sasuke said as he began to walk up the driveway.

Naruto paused and looked up at the giant house towering above him. "This is your house?! This is one step away from a mansion!" He realized Sasuke was already at the front door and he quickly ran up the driveway and caught up with him.

"I have to do something real quick, but feel free to make yourself at home." Sasuke commented as he started up the steps.

He headed into his mother's room. She was lying on her side, her eyes staring blankly at the wall across from her. Sasuke pulled up the chair and sat down. He gave her a small smile but there was no response.

"So, I woke up in a huge amount of pain this morning." He started off with a sigh. "The rest of the day was kind of just a blur, though I did find out that Naruto and I are in similar situations with our soulmate." He paused. "And that's why I think I invited him over to our house today."

His eyes widened as he saw the corner of her mouth twitching until she was smiling. He stood up quickly. "Mom?!" He didn't expect her to say anything, and she didn't, but he couldn't help but to smile along with her.

Her smile didn't last too long and Sasuke's smiled soon faded with hers. With a sigh, he turned to leave, only to take a step back as he saw Naruto standing in the doorway, watching him. He glared at the blonde as he felt his cheeks heat up. "What are you doing?!"

Naruto looked at him then back to his mother. "I got bored. What happened to her?"

Sasuke looked down at his mom before walking out the door and heading to his room, assuming Naruto would follow.

As they both entered Sasuke's room, he closed the bedroom door behind him and sat in the chair at his desk while Naruto made himself comfy on the bed.

"A few years ago, my father was in some legal trouble at his company. He started to get really paranoid, and acted sketchy. One morning, he was convinced that the Feds were going to get him, but he still went to work. Or at least we thought he was.

"Instead, the police came to our house to tell us that he parked his car off a main road and jumped off a bridge." Sasuke looked down at his lap as he recalled what happened that day. "My mom instantly changed. I'm honestly convinced that if the police weren't there, she would have killed herself too.

"They took her to the hospital and we didn't see her for almost six months after that. But when she came back home, she was a completely different person. She didn't walk on her own anymore, she didn't eat and wouldn't even talk unless it was to protest something she really didn't want. At the rate she was going, she was trying to just die naturally.

"Ever since then, she's just been lying comatose in bed practically." He finished, looking up at Naruto and gave him a shrug.

"I'm sorry." Naruto was unsure of what else to say.

"How did you end up in foster care?" Sasuke asked after the two were silent.

"Oh, well, first my mom and dad weren't actual soulmates." Naruto started off, Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise. "I know my mom's died when she was in high school but I'm not sure what happened to my dad's." He gave a light shrug.

"Either way, the two weren't well together and it caused my dad to be angry. He'd beat me or my mom. Mostly my mom. But one day, things got too heated and he beat my mom pretty bad. And I hid from him. That's when I heard a gunshot and then my mom's voice stopped.

"I heard him walk around the whole house looking for me but he always failed to check the most obvious places. I was hiding on a shelf in the closet.

"Just as I heard him about to reach the room I was in, I heard the police come in and another gunshot. It took the police about five minutes to fnd me. He ended up just shooting himself rather than getting arrested."

"Damn, that's a lot to happen to you. I'm sorry." Sasuke said once Naruto was finished.

"Hey, we all have our issues, am I right?" Naruto laughed and Sasuke smirked.

"Right. Want to help me start dinner?"

Naruto blinked owlishly at him. "You cook? I expected a chef service or something."

Sasuke rolled his eyes before standing up. "Come on, let's go."

The two walked down to the kitchen where Sasuke gathered the ingredients to make tempura. They talked about mindless things, joking and laughing and making a mess.

Itachi came home just as Naruto was setting the table. He blinked once at the mysterious blonde. "Hello there, who might you be?"

Naruto paused in setting the table and looked up, his eyes widened in surprise as he looked Itachi over. He got over his shock and gave him a bright smile, holding out his hand. "I'm Naruto, practically Sasuke's newest and best friend!"

Itachi smiled and took the blonde's hand in a firm handshake. "Nice to meet you Naruto. I'm Itachi, Sasuke's older brother."

"Dinner's ready! Oh, Itachi." Sasuke came out of the kitchen and stopped when he saw Itachi. "I made tempura."

"Hopefully you two didn't make much of mess?" An eyebrow raised. He smirked as the two boys looked away and blushed. "Well, we'll eat together and as I'm feeding mother, you two can clean up as well."

Both boys groaned in protest but sat down to eat.

After dinner and cleaning up the kitchen, the two boys started their homework as they waited for Iruka and Kakashi to pick Naruto up.

It wasn't long before the two arrived at their doorstep.

"Bye Sasuke, see you tomorrow!" Naruto waved as he followed his foster parents to their car.

"Bye!" Sasuke waved and watched as the three of them drove away.

"I'm surprised you had a friend over." Itachi commented once Sasuke closed the door.

Sasuke looked down at the ground then smiled back up at his brother. "I was too, but I'm glad I did." He started to head up the stairs. "Goodnight."

"Night, Sasuke."


	11. Chapter 11

Naruto woke up to the sound of his alarm. With a yawn, he slowly sat up in bed and stretched. He took a quick glance at his wrist, giving it a twist. His grin grew wide as there was no pain.

Quickly he got ready for school and made his way downstairs into the kitchen.

"Good morning, Naruto." Iruka greeted him with a bright smile. "Breakfast should be ready shortly." He began to gather plates from the cabinets. Kakashi gave the blonde a nod and a raise of his coffee mug in greeting.

"I'll set the table!" Naruto volunteered, running up and gently grabbing the plates.

Iruka's eyes widened at the blondes eagerness. He looked to Kakashi who just gave him a shrug and continued to cook breakfast. "Why, thank you. What's got you in such a good mood today?"

Naruto finished setting the last plate and made his way to the cutlery drawer. Taking out the necessary silverware, he turned back to Iruka. "I'm going to ask a girl out today."

Both Iruka and Kakashi turned to look at him, both their eyes widened in surprise. They gave each other quick glances before looking back at Naruto.

"Is she your soulmate?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto shook his head. "No. At least I'm pretty sure she's not. But she's pretty and nice so why not, right?"

Iruka gave him a big smile. "Of course! Whatever makes you happy, we're supportive of you." He turned to Kakashi. "Right?"

"You got it! Now, who's ready to eat?"

After breakfast, the three of them drove to the high school. Naruto was dropped off in the front where he met up with Kiba, Neji and Sasuke.

"Hey guys!" Naruto called out, waving to his friends as he ran up to them.

"Naruto!" Kiba greeted him. He threw his arm around his shoulder and gave him a toothy grin.

Neji and Sasuke each gave him a nod and the four of them headed into the school.

"So guys, guess what?" Naruto started, sitting in his seat when they reached homeroom.

The other three gave the blonde their attention and Naruto grinned at them excitedly.

"I'm going to ask a girl out today."

"What?" The three of them each asked, different levels of reactions.

"Dude, you found your soul mate?" Kiba asked excitedly, practically bouncing in his seat.

Naruto shook his head. "No, at least I'm pretty sure she's not."

Neji raised an eyebrow up at him. "So even though she's not your soulmate, you're still asking her out?"

"Yep!"

"Why the hell would you do that?"

Kiba, Naruto and Neji all turned to face Sasuke who was looking disgusted.

Naruto shrugged. "Cause she's pretty, and nice. And smart!"

"So?"

Naruto gave a slight glare to the Uchiha. He opened his mouth to continue but was cut off by the bell and soon homeroom began.

As soon as homeroom was finished, Sasuke quickly caught up to Naruto, determined to get an answer. "So why would you ask this girl out if she's not your soulmate?"

Naruto gave a quick glance to the raven to see he was genuinely curious. He stood up straighter. "Why not? It's better than being lonely and I can get in some experience in the meantime as I'm waiting to find my soul mate."

Sasuke's eyes widened a bit in shock. "I guess. It just seems pointless." He shook his head.

"What seems pointless?"

"Asking out someone who isn't your soulmate."

"Why would you say it's pointless?"

They reached their first class where they sat in their seats, waiting for the bell to ring.

"You're just going to break up anyways. Why bother?"

Naruto gave him a sad smile. "Well, what if you never get the chance to meet your soulmate? They're on the other side of the world or God forbid they died. Why not at least have a chance to love and be loved in return. And if you ever do find them, the other person will understand."

Sasuke was stunned by Naruto's answer. He said nothing, instead, he looked down at his desk.

Naruto just smirked as the bell rung and class began.

The rest of the day passed by slowly for Naruto. But soon enough, he was in art class. He nervously looked around and spotted the familiar head of pink hair. He smiled before walking over to her.

"Hey Sakura," he greeted. She looked up at him with a smile. "Can I talk with you for a second?"

She gave him a concerned look before placing a well manicured hand on his arm. "Of course. Is everything okay?"

He nodded. Pleased with his answer, she took her hand away and watched as he sat down.

"So," she started after Naruto was silent for a while. "What's up?"

Naruto let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding. "Well, I'm just going to outright say it." He looked over at her to see her nod. "Do you want to go out with me?" He pursed his lips as he watched her, waiting for an answer.

There was no immediate reaction. She looked at him thoughtfully before she slowly smiled, her eyes closing. "You know what, yeah, I'd like that."

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise. "Wait, really?" He wasn't expecting her to say yes, at least not that quickly.

She giggled as she nodded at him. "Yeah."

"Okay, how's tonight?" Naruto gave her a bright smile. "We can catch a movie and then grab a bite to eat?" He gave her a hopeful smile.

"That sounds perfect!" She clapped her hands together, causing the paintbrush in her hand to lightly splatter paint. "I'm sorry!" She gasped as she noticed a spot of paint on his cheek.

"No worries!" Naruto grinned back and was about to go to wipe it off. Before he could do anything, she leaned forward and gently wiped it off with her thumb.

She sat back, a triumphant smirk on her face. "There. That's better."

"Thanks."

"Now, I'm almost finished with my painting. How far along are you?"

Naruto blinked owlishly at her before rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Uh, nowhere near close?"

Sakura giggled. "Well then, let me help you out."

The two of them continued working on their paintings for the remainder of the period. Chatting during the time.

The rest of the day flew by for Naruto and before he knew it, it was the end of the day. Naruto met up with Kiba, Neji and Sasuke at the usual place.

"Guys, I did it!" Naruto exclaimed as he ran up to them, looking at each of them with a proud grin.

"Did what?" Kiba asked blankly.

"Asked the girl out! And she said yes!"

The three other boys looked at him in surprise. They gave glances to each other before giving their attention back to Naruto. "Who'd you ask out?" Neji was the first to ask the question that was on all three of their minds.

"Sakura." He replied with a smile.

"Sakura?!" The three of them shouted in unison, all shocked by his answer.

He gave them a blank stare. "Yeah."

"You do know she's like, the worst girl you can ask out in this school, right?" Kiba asked, looking at Naruto like he grew another head.

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "She's not bad at all guys. She's really nice to me, and she's very smart. And pretty."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "She knows you hang out with me?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, but I don't see why-"

Sasuke quickly cut him off. "She's just using you."

"What?"

"Sasuke." Neji gave the raven a warning look but Sasuke chose to ignore him, instead narrowing his eyes and crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yeah, she's just using you to get close to me. You can ask anyone at this school about her obsession with me and they'll tell you. She's probably being nice and everything so that by dating you, she'll be able to get closer to me."

Naruto looked down at his feet. Sasuke's words hurting more than he felt they should. He rubbed at his chest, hoping to relieve the feeling. "So you don't think she can ever like me for me?"

"No." Sasuke was quick to answer.

"And you guys agree?" The blonde looked over at Kiba and Neji. The two brunettes said nothing, but not looking at him either. He took their silence as confirmation. He clenched his fists tightly, the hurt growing inside. "Yeah well you're wrong, Uchiha! Me and Sakura are going out tonight and we'll have a great time and your name won't even be brought up in conversation!"

Sasuke shrugged at Naruto's response, choosing not to say anything.

"Whatever. Fuck you, then." Naruto shoved his hands into his pockets before walking away, heading back into the school.

He felt tears sting the corner of his eyes as he walked through the emptying hallways of the school. He wiped at his eyes as he reached Iruka's classroom. He walked in with the best smile he could muster.

"Naruto!" Iruka greeted with a smile, Kakashi waved at him from one of the desks in the front row. "How was your day?"

"It was good." Naruto sat down next to Kakashi, throwing his bag on top of the desk. "The girl I asked out said yes. We're going on a date tonight."

"Really?" Iruka looked at him, excitement shown on his face. "Congratulations, I'm so proud of you!"

"Yeah, good job, champ!" Kakashi patted the blonde on his shoulder. "So we should probably head out soon so you can get ready."

"Of course! Here, let me gather my papers." Iruka quickly stood up before gathering his stuff. "Alright guys, let's get out of here!"

Around five, Naruto and Sakura walked through downtown Konoha, on their way to the movie theater.

Naruto felt himself get nervous as they were walking. He gently reached out and grabbed Sakura's hand, unsure if that was the right move.

Sakura looked down at their hands as Naruto gently grasped hers. She let out a giggle as the blonde refused to make eye contact with her. "You nervous?"

"N-no! What would m-make you think that?" Naruto asked, stuttering.

She gave him a playful smirk. "The fact that you can't look at me, your hands are sweaty and you're stuttering."

Naruto felt his cheeks heat up and he let out a shaky laugh. "It's that obvious, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is. You don't have to be nervous. I'm still the same Sakura from school."

Naruto nodded. "You're right! So, what movie do you want to see, seeing as we're almost at the theater." He nodded towards the giant neon sign that was flashing the word 'Movie'.

"I don't know. I was thinking something action-y maybe?"

Naruto's eyes widened. "You're into action movies?"

Sakura gave a shrug. "I'm down to watch anything. I overheard Kiba, Neji and Sasuke talking about action was their favorite genre. Know anything good playing?"

Naruto frowned at the mention of Sasuke's name but quickly shook his head, trying not to let that ruin his date. "Uh, yeah, actually. So, there's this new superhero movie," he began to describe the movie to her as they waited in line to purchase their tickets.

After the movie, the two walked out of the theater, hand in hand.

"That was awesome!" Naruto exclaimed, throwing his free hand in the air, a giant grin on his face.

Sakura giggled as she watched Naruto go on about the movie. "Yeah, it was really good, I liked it."

"Really?" Naruto looked at her, true happiness showing through as Sakura nodded. "Good, I didn't want you to be bored or anything."

Sakura shook her head. "No! I wasn't bored."

Naruto nodded back. "Cool, so where do you want to eat?"

Sakura tapped her chin, thinking on her answer. "There's this diner that's two blocks away. Sasuke mentioned it was good but I've never been there before."

Naruto felt himself get angry but quickly took a deep breath and gave her a forced smile. "Okay. No where else you wanna go?"

Sakura shook her head. "Nope. I'll lead the way!"

Naruto nodded as Sakura began to head towards the diner. He silently listened as Sakura went on about herself. He couldn't help but to zone out, doubting Sakura's reasonings for accepting the date.

They arrived at the diner and were seated quickly. They placed their order and began to talk when they were interrupted.

"Well, looky here." Naruto froze at the voice as Sakura looked up from her milkshake in curiosity.

"If it ain't little Naruto." Brandon was the last to speak, Kyler and Lewis standing next to him, all three sporting smirks.

"So is this the little emo girl who's screaming for attention?" Kyler nodded at Sakura.

"Emo girl?" Sakura raised an eyebrow at the three boys before looking towards Naruto.

"No. She's not." Naruto hissed at the three of them. "Now get lost."

Lewis began to laugh. "So you actually got a girl to go out with you who's not your soulmate? Maybe you're not a loser, after all."

The three of them looked at each other before laughing loudly.

Naruto felt his cheeks heat up in embarrassment and he glared at the table, not saying anything.

Sakura glared up at the three boys. "I don't who you guys are, or what your relationship with Naruto is, but we're on a date and I'd appreciate it if you could go away so we can enjoy the rest of it. Thank you."

Naruto looked at her in surprise, as well as Kyler, Brandon and Lewis.

"You heard the girl, boys." Kyler narrowed his eyes at Sakura before smirking at Naruto. "We'll leave. But Naruto, we still need to talk so meet us at the usual hang out, alright?"

Naruto said nothing until Brandon kicked him under the table, it going unnoticed by Sakura. "Right. See you."

The three of them left and Naruto let out a breath of relief.

"Who were those guys?" Sakura asked, a mix of curiosity and concern in her tone of voice.

"Just some guys from my old school." He responded with a shrug, easily lying to her. "They're more bark than bite."

Sakura nodded before reaching out and grabbing his hand. "As long as you're not in any serious trouble, okay? I don't want to see you hurt."

Any doubts of Sakura's intentions of why she accepted his date left as soon as she said those words. He gave her a genuine smile and squeezed her hand in response. "Thanks, Sakura."

She smiled back at him and then the food arrived. They both sat back in their seats and began to eat.

Naruto walked Sakura back to her house. They stopped in front of her door, Naruto looking down at her as she looked back up at him.

"I had a good time tonight, Naruto." She smiled up at him.

"Me too." He gave her a bright smile in return.

She giggled. "So I'll see you tomorrow morning then. We can tell Sasuke and the guys about how our date went in homeroom."

Naruto felt himself frown once again at the mention of the raven. "Uh, sure."

"Goodnight." She placed her hands on his shoulder and stood up on her toes to place a kiss on his cheeks.

"Night." He replied as she stepped away. He watched as she opened her door and step inside.

He stuffed his hands into his pants pocket and with a sigh, began his walk home.

All he could think about was Sasuke's words from earlier, and how the longer the date went on, the more Sakura seemed to really only be interested in Sasuke. He ran a hand through his hair and let out a frustrated sigh.

"Didn't forget about us, did you?"

Naruto groaned as he looked behind him to ser Brandon, Kyler and Lewis appear out of the alley he just walked past. "I did actually. Can we do this another time?"

The three of them slowly surrounded the blonde and Naruto sighed in defeat. He needed to let out some frustration from his date anyways.

"You have the money to take out some girl but don't have the money to pay us back?" Kyler spoke up.

Naruto rolled his eyes. a forty dollar date is different than a two hundred dollar phone. You know damn well I don't have that kind of money." He walked past them, bumping his shoulder into Brandon's as he walked through.

"Why don't you ask your new fags of fathers to lend you money?" Lewis snickered.

Naruto froze at the comment. He felt his blood boiling and he saw red. Before he was really even thinking, he turned and charged at Lewis, tackling him to the ground.

He started to throw punches at the boy, trying to get in as many hits before the other two would intervene.

It took them no longer than ten seconds before they were dragging the blonde off their friend, tossing him against a brick wall of one of the buildings in the alley.

Naruto groaned out, trying to get up only to be kicked back down. He covered his face as he began to feel multiple kicks.

The three of them threw their insults with their assaults, not giving the blonde a chance to retaliate.

It wasn't long till the three of them stopped, out of breath and proud of the damage they did to the blonde.

"Let's go, guys. I'm sure we'll be seeing Naruto again real soon.

They walked away, leaving him alone.

Naruto shakily stood up and looked down at his clothes and body. He was covered in dirt and bruises were starting to form on his arms where he was covering his face from their kicks.

He began his walk back home, when a horn honk made him stop to look.

"Naruto!" Naruto's eyes widened as he saw Iruka scrambling out of the car. "Naruto, what happened?!" He stopped in front of the blonde, placing both hands on his shoulder.

"I got in a fight with some kids from my old school." Naruto mumbled. He felt tired and just wanted to go home and sleep.

Iruka slowly guided Naruto into the backseat of the car. He then climbed into the passenger car. As Kakashi began to drive, Iruka turned in his seat to face him. "I thought you had a date you were going on?"

Naruto looked off to the side. "I did. And I was. But then they interrupted it and found me after I dropped her off."

Iruka and Kakashi looked at each other in concern before Iruka turned back to him. "Is everything okay?"

Naruto shrugged, not saying anything.

"Listen Naruto, if you need help from us don't hesitate to ask, okay? We want to be there for you as your parents."

"Like adoption?" Naruto tentatively asked.

"Yeah, like adoption." Iruka smiled warmly at him.

Naruto looked up in surprise and felt his heart warm at the words.

"But we need you to be upfront with your problems, kiddo." Kakashi spoke up. "And getting into fights is not something that we want you to do."

Naruto nodded firmly. "I understand."

"Good." Iruka reached over and placed his hand on his knee.

Naruto smiled and was about to place his own hand on top of his, when a stinging pain came from his wrist. He hissed and retracted his arm, cradling it.

"Is everything okay?" Iruka asked, concerned at the distraught look on Naruto's face.

Naruto couldn't answer as he watched angry red marks appear on his wrist. His eyes widened as one in particular was larger.

"Naruto?" Kakashi gave him a glance through the rearview mirror.

Naruto shook his head as the cuts stopped but the pain lingered. "No. I-it's my soulmate."

"What's going on?" Iruka asked.

Naruto held out his wrist for Iruka to see, using his free arm to wipe at his eyes. "I'm not sure but this happens a lot."

Iruka frowned at the lines on his wrist and Kakashi glanced down at them as well.

"It just sucks cause I can't be there for her, you know?" Naruto sighed as he took back his arm, the stinging beginning to subside. "And I have no idea why, I just feel so helpless."

"It's understandable." Kakashi replied. "Knowing someone is hurting and is in trouble but not being able to do anything is frustrating. You just have to be strong and when the time comes for you to meet them, be there for them."

"Exactly what Kakashi said. And if you're struggling to stay strong, we're here to help you out too. Don't ever be afraid to ask for help."

Naruto smiled brightly. "Thank you guys, it means a lot to me." He looked back out the window and sighed in happiness.


	12. Chapter 12

"Whatever. Fuck you, then." Sasuke frowned as Naruto turned and walked away from them. He watched him walk back into the building before getting nudged. He turned to glare at Neji who was giving him his own glare.

"Way to go, Sasuke." Neji hissed out.

"Yeah," Kiba rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I feel kinda bad now. The poor kid's gonna get his heart broke."

Sasuke gave a scoff and crossed his arms over his chest. "Whatever, we warned him, right?"

"You didn't have to be such an asshole about it." Neji shot back.

"You were a jerk."

"You guys didn't help either. Keeping quiet like that." He glared at the two of them as they gave him knowing looks. He rolled his eyes before sighing and uncrossing his arms. "Alright. I'll apologize tomorrow. Happy?"

Kiba smiled brightly at him. "Very."

Neji shrugged in response. "It's a start."

"See you guys tomorrow." He gave them a wave as he headed towards his bus.

The ride home was quick. As he walked from the bus stop, he couldn't help but to think about Naruto going on a date with Sakura. The problem being he knew Sakura's intentions and unfortunately the blonde was too naive to see it.

When he reached his house, he practically took the steps two at a time before entering his mom's room and closing the door. He pulled the chair to the side of his mom's bed and looked her over.

Her eyes were staring straight ahead as she was facing towards Sasuke. Not moving.

He let out a sigh and ran a hand through his hair. "Mom, I don't know what to do. Naruto just asked this girl out, Sakura, the one who's obsessed with me. And I know she's just using him to get closer to me, and I tried telling him that but he just got mad at me." Tears of frustration pricked his eyes and he used the heel of his hand to press against his eyes. "I just don't know what to do, mom."

He felt a hand on his knee and he looked up, shocked to see his mom looking at him, a slight frown on her face. "It'll...be, okay." She managed to speak out. Her voice was low and raspy.

Sasuke's eyes widened. "Mom?!"

Her frown very slowly turned into a smile and her fingers gently trailed over his skin. "Everyth...ing, will be...okay, Sas-" her voice trailed off and her eyes seemed to dim before his eyes. Her hand went limp and fell to the side of the bed, dangling back and forth.

Sasuke stood up do quickly, the chair fell backwards from the momentum. "Itachi!" He yelled loudly. He ran out of the room, screaming for his brother until he reached the kitchen where Itachi was glaring at him from in front of the stove.

"Why are you screaming like a maniac?" Itachi continued his glaring as he watched his little brother bend forward, his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.

"Mom!" He managed to gasp out.

Itachi rolled his eyes and turned back to the dinner he was making.

"Sh-she spoke to me! And she put her hand on her knee!" Sasuke managed to spit out as he finished composing himself. Itachi turned to face him, his eyes carefully studying his little brother, looking him up and down. "She IS getting better!"

There was silence between them as Sasuke stared at his older brother, expectantly. Itachi slowly narrowed his eyes. "I can't fucking believe you, Sasuke."

The hope and slight smile on Sasuke's face dropped and he gave his brother a look of disbelief. "W-what?"

"I can't believe you'd make something up like this." Itachi sucked his teeth and angrily began to stir whatever he was cooking for diiner. "Un-fucking-believeable."

Sasuke glared at the back of his brother's head. "You think I'm making this up?! Why would I do something like that, Itachi?"

Itachi slammed the spatula down at the counter and turned to face him. "Okay, you really want to do this? Let's do this."

Sasuke was taken back by the sharpness of Itachi's voice.

"All you've been doing for the past week is talking about some little thing about mom. Mom did this, mom did that. You started off with small things because we both know I wouldn't fall for a dramatic change. And when I wasn't giving you the attention you so desperately wanted, you made sure you got your little dramatic move. This is so childish and annoying, Sasuke." Itachi's glare turned almost sinister and Sasuke felt himself deflate mentally. He looked at his brother dejectdely.

"Lying just to get some damn attention, get the hell out of my face." With that being said. Itachi turned off the stove. He then walked out of the kitchen and past Sasuke, giving him a not so gentle shove with his shoulder, and walked out the front door.

Sasuke looked at the spot where his brother was standing just moments before. Soon, tears filled his vision. He never felt so empty. He grabbed at his hair as he fell to his knees, trying to hold back his cries. He took a few deep breaths before standing up, determined.

He walked to the stairs and took them two at a time before he reached his bedroom. He slammed the door closed and stomped his way over to his nightstand, pulling the drawer out roughly.

He grabbed for his razor and sat at the edge of his bed. Looking down at his wrist, he brought the blade to his skin. He firmly pressed down and dragged the blade, making a horizontal line. It instantly turned an angry red, blood rushing immediately. He felt almost an instant sense of emotional release. He made a few more cuts until he felt better.

He placed the razor back in his proper place before cleaning his arm. He then went downstairs to order something for dinner. He knew his brother wasn't going to come back tonight, he'd be lucky if Itachi was even home in the morning. He let out a sigh as he accepted that tonight would be just another lonely night.


	13. Chapter 13

Sasuke woke up to the sound of his alarm. He glared at the clock before turning it off. With a sigh, he got up and walked out of his bedroom. He walked to the top of the stairs and listened for any sounds from the kitchen. "Itachi?"

There was no answer and he rolled his eyes. Now he was going to have to either skip breakfast and take his time getting ready, or be quick with getting ready so he could eat before he had to walk to school.

He walked back into his room where he decided to take his time getting ready. When he was finished he checked up on his mom to see the day nurse there. He gave her a nod before heading down the stairs and out the door. Normally Itachi is the one who checks on their mom's nurse. But every once in a while, he stepped up, mostly when Itachi couldn't do it himself.

He began the walk to school, annoyed with the warming weather. He rolled up one of his sleeves only to remember what he did the night before. He looked around to make sure no one was near as he quickly pulled it back down.

He put his hands in his pocket and thought about what he was going to say to Naruto. Sorry he was trying to save him from an evil wench? Sorry that that same wench was so obsessed with him that she'd fake date one of his friends to get closer to him? He shook his head and let out a sigh. He'd figured it out when he got there.

He soon reached the school and walked up the path to the front of the school. He saw Kiba, Neji and Naruto. He quickened his pace, only to freeze in his tracks a few feet away from them.

In the group was Sakura. She had her arm looped through Naruto's and her head resting on his shoulder. She let out a laugh at something Kiba said. He raised an eyebrow as he began to walk closer to them once again. "Uh, hey guys."

"Hey." Kiba and Neji greeted him with a nod and a smile. Naruto nodded, keeping as neutral of a face as he could. Sakura perked up, lifting her head off Naruto's shoulder. "Hey, Sasuke!"

She let go of Naruto's arm, skipping her way over to Sasuke's side. She lightly placed her hand on Sasuke's shoulder.

Sasuke tried shrugging it off but her hand was stuck to him like glue. "Get off, Sakura."

"Did Naruto tell you, we went to that little place you were talking about last week." Sakura began to ramble. Sasuke glanced at Naruto who looked at them in disappointment. He gave the blonde an apologetic look when their eyes met. The blonde looked away before waving and leaving, walking towards the building.

He frowned as he watched the blonde walk away. He gently pushed Sakura off of him. "I'm gonna get to class." He didn't wait for a response as he walked into the building.

"Hey." He easily caught up with the blonde, catching his arm.

Naruto stopped, turning to look at him. He gave him a frown and didn't say anything.

"You wanna skip and head to the park?" Sasuke gave him a smirk.

Naruto studied his face carefully before breaking out into a toothy grin. "Yeah. Let's get outta here."

The two headed into the bathroom until the first warning bell rang. Through the hurried students, the two walked out of the building and headed to the city park.

The walk wasn't very far from the school, especially if they cut through the small wooded area behind the school grounds. They walked in silence and Sasuke gave Naruto a glance. "I'm sorry."

Naruto looked up at Sasuke from kicking a rock along his path. "Huh? Oh." He looked back at the ground and shrugged. "You don't have to be sorry. You were right after all."

Sasuke stuck his hands in his pocket. "I didn't want to be right."

They continued walking in silence until they reached the playground. Naruto nodded towards the swings and continued walking, not checking to see if the raven was following behind him.

Sasuke sat down on the swing closest to the end and Naruto took up the one besides him. Sasuke watched in silence as Naruto began to lightly swing. "I think my mom's getting better."

Naruto dug his feet into the ground, stopping abruptly. His eyes widened as he looked at the raven. "No shit?"

Sasuke shook his head smiling. "No shit. She was actually talking to me yesterday. Not very much, but enough."

Naruto grinned brightly at him and gave him a nudge. "That's awesome, dude! I'm so happy for you."

Sasuke let out a sigh, looking down at his lap. "I wish Itachi was that way too. He believes I'm making it all up because I want attention. He got so mad he just left and never came back this morning."

Naruto let out a hiss. "Ouch. I'm sorry. Honestly, he's probably got a lot going on at work right now that if he doesn't hear anything normal, he just flips out."

Sasuke snorted before looking at Naruto with a playful smirk. "It's cute of you to give him the benefit of the doubt."

Naruto rolled his eyes before he nudged Sasuke and laughed. "I didn't even tell you."

The raven raised an eyebrow encouraging the blonde to continue.

"Iruka and Kakashi were talking about adopting me." Naruto's smile grew as he beamed at Sasuke.

Sasuke's eyes widened. "What? Really?"

Naruto nodded.

"Congratulations, I'm happy for you." Sasuke gave him a small smile.

"Thanks." Naruto looked up at the sky then back to Sasuke. "See? It's nice to be able to talk with a friend."

Sasuke laughed lightly. "Yeah. It is." He cleared his throat and looked nervously at the blonde. "Can I," he took a quick breath. "Can I talk to you about my soulmate?"

Naruto's eyes widened owlishly in surprise before he nodded. "Yeah, of course."

Sasuke let out a breath of relief. "Okay cool. I'm, really worried about her. I think she may be in a situation where she's in trouble?"

Naruto tilted his head. "Trouble?

"Yeah. Some trouble she can't get herself out of. And I just feel guilty because I'm not there, stopping her from getting hurt."

Naruto studied Sasuke carefully before giving him a sad smile and looking down at the ground in front of him. "I know exactly how you feel. My soulmate is in a similar situation. And every time I get angry because I feel like I can't protect her."

"Yes!" Sasuke was surprised at how relieved he felt having someone to be able to relate too. He looked up at the sky. "I hope I find her soon, Naruto. I'm going to make her the happiest person alive."

Naruto snickered. "Sorry, it's going to have to be second person. Cause my girl is gonna be number one!"

The two went their separate ways after finishing their talk on the swings. It was almost the end of the school day anyway. Sasuke took his time getting back home.

When he got home, he went straight for his mom's room. He sat down in the chair next to her bed and looked at her. She was facing him but her eyes were closed. He smiled down at her. "Hey mom. I skipped school today with Naruto. But we made up after the girl he asked out really did turn out to be using him to get to me." He watched his mother open her eyes, but she was looking past him. "We got to talking a lot, I told him about Itachi not believing me about you getting better. And then he told me about how his foster parents are talking about adopting him."

Sasuke let out a sigh. "And then we started talking about our soulmates. I told him about how my soulmate is in trouble and he says so is his. And we both feel the same and it just feels so, great. I finally have someone to relate too."

"A...good, friend." His mom rasped out. Sasuke looked down at her but she was still looking past him. "I'm...so...happy for you."

Sasuke took his mom's hand. "Thank you. I miss you, mom." He watched her and felt her hand give his a gentle squeeze.

"Sasuke." She looked up at him and gave him a smile. "I miss...you too."

"Did you always hear me when I was telling my stories to you?" Sasuke was curious but cautious.

She was silent for a moment and Sasuke deflated, feeling disappointed. Of course she'd go back to being comatose after asking such a question.

"Most times." She finally gave the answer. "When I...was awake."

Sasuke was shocked by the answer. He wasn't expecting her to actually be listening to the things he said, even though he was hopeful about it he tried to be realistic. "How come you've been silent for so long? And why choose now to talk?"

"I chose, now...for you." Sasuke felt his heartbeat faster. His mom smiled and tears began to fall. "You...needed, me."

Sasuke felt his own eyes sting with tears. "But I needed you then too, mom. Why didn't you talk to me then?"

His mom looked away and she took her hand out of his. "I...didn't know," she paused and Sasuke realized she was starting to go back to her coma-like state. "What to...say."

Sasuke sighed before standing up. "I love you, mom." He placed a kiss on her forehead, knowing she wouldn't answer back. He left the room, heading down to the kitchen.

Honestly, he wasn't sure if Itachi was going to be coming home for dinner. He's never seen Itachi that pissed before. He shook his head as he stepped off the last stair. He walked down the hallway into the kitchen to see Itachi walking through the side door.

Itachi made contact with Sasuke's eyes and he gave him an apologetic look. "Sasuke," he walked over to the table and placed the keys on the table then stood in front of Sasuke. "I'm sorry for blowing up at you yesterday, honestly I'm just very stressed out."

Sasuke shrugged. "It's okay. I talked with Naruto and mom and I'm feeling better."

Itachi nodded. "That's good to-" he stopped and groaned as he finally understood what his little brother said. "You're really going to start this? Again? I just got home, Sasuke."

"I don't care whether you believe me or not, Itachi." Sasuke walked towards the fridge, figuring out what to make for dinner. "I'm going to talk with mom and when she's ready to start talking with you, then you'll finally understand."

"No Sasuke. You are going to understand." The fridge door slammed closed and Sasuke looked in surprise to see his brother with his hand pressed firmly against the door, glaring down at him. "No more talk about mom. I'm stressed out enough from work I don't need to add on my little brother going as batshit crazy as our mom."

The words struck Sasuke, hard. And he rubbed at his chest where it stung.

"The next time I hear this shit, you're going to be the one finding a place to sleep that night. Not me." Itachi walked past him and up the stairs.

Sasuke felt the tears sting his eyes. As soon as he heard his brother's bedroom door close, he made his way to his own bedroom. He threw his nightstand drawer open through blurry eyes. The hurt running through him overpowered his judgement as he grabbed the razor. He pulled his sleeve up, farther than normal, looking at the pure, untouched pale skin. He brought the razor to the fresh skin, and made the first cut.


	14. Chapter 14

Naruto woke up to the sound of his alarm blaring. He groaned as his body screamed in pain. On shaky limbs, he got himself sitting up in his bed and with a heavy sigh, stood up and began to get ready for school.

After finishing getting dressed, he made his way down the stairs and into the kitchen. He saw Iruka and Kakashi talking over the stove as they were making breakfast. He leaned against the doorframe. "Morning guys, uh, where's the aspirin?"

"Morning Naruto, it's in the-" Iruka stared wide-eyed as he realized the condition that Naruto was in. "Oh my god." He put down the spatula he was using and made his way over to the blonde. "Naruto, what happened?"

"You didn't sneak out last night, did you?" Kakashi asked, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Iruka gave him a glare. "What did we say about that?"

Naruto shook his head. "No. I didn't sneak out. It happened when I was taking out the trash. He wanted payback for me breaking his phone back in the group home."

Both Kakashi and Iruka looked at each other in bewilderment before turning to him. "Why didn't you say something to us?!" Iruka practically shrieked.

Naruto grimaced and turned away from them. "That's the thing," with a sigh, he turned towards them, gaze on the floor, as he held out his bare arm to them. "And this isn't from the fight."

"Your soulmate?" Kakashi asked solemnly, staring at Naruto's arm.

Naruto nodded silently.

Iruka pulled Naruto to his chest, holding him tightly. "I'm so sorry, Naruto."

"It just sucks." Naruto muttered, staring at the wall as Iruka still held on to him. "She's in so much pain and I can't do anything but be helpless here, doing nothing."

"I know it's hard," Kakashi walked next to him, placing an arm on his back as he looked at Iruka with a sad smile. "But all you can really do is just be there. You'll meet her when the time is right, when she needs you the most."

Iruka nodded and pulled Naruto away from him, gently. "That's right. So until then, stay strong, alright?"

Naruto nodded before giving him a grateful smile. "Thanks guys, I really appericiate it."

"Now, let's eat breakfast and head on out to school, shall we?" Kakashi clapped his hands together as Iruka rolled his eyes and Naruto laughed.

Sasuke groaned as his alarm went off, signaling it was time for school. Pain ached throughout his whole body, including his face. He hissed as he tried to rub the sleep out of one his eyes, the ache turned into pain. "Shit." He muttered to himself as he sat up in bed. He walked over to his mirror and sucked his teeth at what he saw.

His face was slightly swollen and red, but what really caught his attention was the dark, large bruise around his eye. He groaned, this was worse than the one from the other day. A hood definitely wouldn't be enough to keep it hidden.

He quickly got dressed and ready for school as a plan formed in his head on a way to hide the bruise. He finished getting ready in record time and sneakily made his way to his mom's room.

The nurse wasn't there yet and his mom was fast asleep. He quietly stepped in and walked over to her dresser that held her jewelry and make-up. It was organized neatly but covered in a tiny layer of dust from unuse.

He narrowed his eyes as he carefully looked over the names of the make ups that were lined up. His eyes widened as he spotted what he was looking for. He picked up the bottle that read "Foundation" and opened it carefully.

He poured some onto his finger before looking into the mirror and gently applied it to the area of the bruise, wincing at the pain. After applying the makeup, he took a step back and examined his handiwork.

Sasuke let out a frustrated sigh as he stared at the poor job he did. The color didn't match the rest of his skin and despite the fact that he applied a generous amount, it still looked like the bruise was there. He made his way to the bathroom where he decided to just wipe the makeup off.

With defeat in his step, he made his way downstairs to the kitchen. He was greeted with the sigh of Itachi sitting at the table.

"Good morning, Sa-" Itachi's eyes widened as he finally noticed the dark bruise on his little brother's face. "What happened?!" He sat up straighter in his chair as Sasuke got closer to him.

The younger raven stepped to the table and reached for an apple that was sitting in the bowl of fruit placed in the middle. He mentally smirked as Itachi stared at him in disbelief for blatantly ignoring him. Without saying a word, he grabbed his bag and walked out the front door and headed to school. The walk didn't take long but as he got closer to the building, the feeling of dread grew bigger. He stopped in his tracks before he got too close. He took a deep breath before deciding to head towards the bleachers where Kiba and him normally skip.

On his way, he spotted Naruto in the distance and tried to quicken his pace, hoping to avoid his gaze. It was proved futile as he heard his name being called by the blonde.

"Sasuke, get over here! Or else I'll drag your ass over here!" Naruto shouted.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and looked around. It seemed safe enough, Naruto was alone anyways. He took in a deep breath, keeping his head low, hoping to hide his eye from the blonde as long as possible.

Naruto grinned as Sasuke began to walk towards him.

After being dropped off, as much as Naruto promised he wouldn't skip school, skipping first period should be okay. He gazed at his arm and the exposed scar from his soulmate. At first he wanted to be alone but as soon as he saw the raven, he wanted to tell him all about his soulmate.

He raised an eyebrow at the slow pace the raven was walking at, and crossed his arms over his chest. "Come on, what's taking you so l-"

Both boys stopped and stared at each other. Obsidian eyes scanned over the tan whiskered face and stopped on his eye that marred his own eye as well. His eyes widened as well as cerulean.

Realization hit Sasuke like a ton of bricks and he took a step back, his arm reaching up to rub at his temple. This must mean that Naruto was, he stared at the blonde who looked confused and he let out tired chuckle. Naruto hasn't figured it out, they were-.

"Hey Sasuke," Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Your arms bleeding." Naruto pointed at his own arm, to show the raven.

Sasuke quickly pulled his arm to his side, trying to hide it behind himself.

At the panicked movements, Naruto's eyes widened and he looked down at his own arm in suspicion. "Wait." He glanced at the raven before quickly reaching out and pulling the raven's arm closer to himself, causing Sasuke to jerk forward.

Without warning, Naruto yanked Sasuke's sleeve up, causing a hiss at the slight pain. His eyes widened as he saw old and new sets of scars that were on Sasuke's wrist. He lightly touched the newest and deepest one.

Naruto let go of Sasuke's arm and took a step back and taking off his wristband. "We're soulmates, aren't we?"

Sasuke did nothing but nod slowly.

The two were silent for a long moment, the new information soaking into their brains. Finally. After some time, Naruto broke out into a large grin. "Well, if I'm gay, I'm glad it's at least with you."

Sasuke stared at Naruto for a moment, the corner of his mouth twitching. Eventually, his mouth broke into an amused smirk. "Idiot." He said with a slight chuckle.

Naruto laughed along with him and threw his arm over Sasuke's shoulder. "You know, you always striked me being gay. I'm not surprised at all."

Sasuke glared at the blonde as he laughed harder, bending over, his arm causing the raven to bend with him. "Shut up." He growled out.

"But for real," Naruto smiled softly up at Sasuke and Sasuke's glare softened as well and he gave the blonde a half smile. "I'm really glad it's you."

Sasuke stared at Naruto and his heart beat faster. His mind was telling him to take a chance and he did. He pressed his lips against Naruto's.

The blonde's eyes widened but soon his eyes closed and he kissed the raven back, wrapping his arms around his neck.

They pulled away, looking deeply into each other's eyes. Naruto smiled.

"Me too."


	15. Chapter 15

"We still have a few minutes before second period starts," Naruto began once the intimate kiss was over. "Do you want to talk a bit?"

Sasuke understood the moment Naruto glanced at his arm. He nodded before heading to the bleacher's making his way to the top.

Naruto followed closely behind him, shoving his hands casually into his jean pockets. "So where should we start?" He looked at the raven who sat in the row above him.

"The bruises," Sasuje quickly spoke up, not wanting to beat around the bush. "They've been happening for as long as I can remember. What's happening?"

Naruto let out a sigh. "Well, as you know, my dad was abusive and then when I went into the foster system, a lot of the homes I was at were abusive too.

But then I was placed in a group home where I was just constantly after getting beaten up or starting fights to let out frustration." He let out a sigh before giving Sasuke a nervous smile. "What about your cuts?"

Sasuke rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I started that once my mom's health began to go downhill." He shook his head. "I don't remember exactly why I went to that but it eventually became a distraction from how alone I felt."

The boys were silent before Naruto stood up. Sasuke raised an eyebrow in question but was then surprised when the blonde leaned down and wrapped his arms around his neck. Sasuke slowly embraced back, encircling Naruto's waist.

"And now you don't have to feel alone, you got me." Naruto lowered himself onto the raven's lap, staring at him with half-lidded eyes. He closed the distance between them, pressing their lips together. Just as Sasuke began to kiss back, Naruto slowly pulled away, causing the raven's eyebrows to furrow. Naruto rested his forehead against the raven's and gave him a smile. "And I'm not going to let you feel alone, so sorry to say, you're stuck with me." His grin grew wider.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and chuckled. "I don't think I'd want it any other way."

Naruto reluctantly stood up and held out his hand for the raven. "Come on, let's go back before the bell rings . I just know Kiba's gonna be bothering us about where we've been."

Sasuke grabbed onto the blonde's hand and pulled himself up. "Yeah. Sounds like Kiba. Let's go." He gasped Naruto's hand tighter and led them down the bleachers and back to the school building.

The two walked through the halls, hand in hand. Many people stopped to stare at the couple who were both confident, Sasuke smirking while Naruto sported a large, toothy grin.

They reached their next class where Kiba and Neji were already sitting in their usual seats.

"Hey!" Kiba shouted once he spotted them. "Where were you guys?! I didn't do the math h-," he stopped midsentence as they stood in front of them. He stared at their interlocking hands. "Why are you guys holding hands?"

Neji rolled his eyes and let out an exaggerated sigh. "Are you really this dense, Kiba?"

Kiba threw him a glare. He looked back at Naruto and Sasuke who were also giving him looks of disbelief. "Did you guys also get in a fight? You both have black eyes too."

"Oh my god." Naruto groaned, pulling his hair with both hands, Sasuke giving him a sympathetic look. "We're soulmates, dumbass!"

"You're what?" Kiba gave them a confused look before looking to Neji who shook his head and muttered an 'idiot' under his breath. He looked to Naruto. "So all this time you were being;" he trailed off.

Naruto shook his head. "Mostly fights. Especially nowadays."

Kiba studied him carefully before giving him a toothy grin. "At least we finally found Sasuke's mystery girl, and she's a fighter!" He snickered as Naruto let out a growl.

"I'm not a girl, dog breath!"

"Oh yeah?"

Neji and Sasuke both rolled their eyes at the pairs bidding.

"I'll prove it to you right now, mutt face!"

"Alright, let's see it then, fox boy!"

Sasuke glared at Kiba before reaching for Nauto's arm and pulling him possessively to his side. "Not a chance. Sit down, Naruto."

Neji snickered at the dumbfounded, but slightly terrified look on Kiba's face.

Naruto reluctantly obeyed, mumbling as he sat down. The raven shot him an annoyed look as the phrase 'possessive bastard' came out of the blonde's mouth. "Just stating facts!" He gave Sasuke a bright grin as all he could do was shake his head.

"Naruto?"

The blonde looked up from his painting to see Sakura standing beside him. He sat up straighter, putting down his brush and giving the pinkette his full attention. He coughed lightly clearing his throat. "Hey Sakura."

She furrowed her eyebrows at him, carefully mapping his face. "I heard you and Sasuke have been holding hands all day today."

Naruto tilted his head, waiting for her to continue. He let out a nervous chuckle when it seemed clear that she wasn't going to say more. "Uh, yeah. We were "

Her frown only seemed to deepen. "Why?"

Naruto was slightly taken aback by the question. "What do you mean, why? I would think it'd be obvious why."

Sakura's gaze got dark as she heatedly glared at the blonde. "No. No it's not obvious, when just the other day you asked me out on a date. Are you trying to make me jealous for getting back at me for using you to make Sasuke jealous? Because your plan isn't going to work."

Naruto looked at her with disbelief before letting out a scoff. "Man, I wished I listened to the guys about you sooner. For your information, Sakura, not everything revolves around you. I wasn't thinking about you at all when I found out Sasuke was my soulmate."

"Soulmate?" She looked at him, her eyes widened in shock. After a moment, her eyes narrowed and her mouth curled in disgust. "There's no way in hell you're Sasuke's soulmate. He deserves so much better than you. You know what kind of hell you put Sasuke in with all those bruises? I knew it had to be some brute! Sasuke deserves the gentle touch of a woman!"

Naruto watched with a frown as Sakura's anger ran down her face with tears. He watched as she panted heavily after yelling. He continued to watch as she let out a frustrated cry and ran out of the art room.

The room of students looked at him, waiting for his reaction.

He gave them a large grin. "Good thing my soulmate ended up being a guy and I don't have to deal with that."

The class erupted with laughs and giggle and Naruto let out a breath of relief as the tension left the room. He shook his head and continued his painting.

After saying his goodbyes to Kiba and Neji, Naruto walked with Sasuke to his bus.

Sasuke chuckled. "I want to hear about that argument you had with Sakura, it sounds hilarious."

Naruto gave him a childish pout and stopped in front of Sasuke's bus. He crossed his arms over his chest and stomped. "It wasn't funny. It was embarrassing."

"Whatever you say." Sasuke chuckled again before leaning down and placing a chaste kiss on the blonde's lips.

Naruto turned bright pink at the public display. Sasuke smirked at him as he pulled away. "Talk to you later." The raven gave a wave as he climbed onto the bus.

"B-bye!" Naruto quickly shouted after him. He shook his head before letting out a shaky breath and making his way back into the school.

He began to make his way to Iruka's classroom and he couldn't help but smile the entire way.

"Hey Naruto, you look to be in a good mood today." Iruka commented as Naruto walked in the door.

Naruto threw his bag onto seat of the desk next to the one that Kakashi was occupying. He jumped onto the desk, letting his legs dangle freely. "Yeah, I have some news to tell you!"

"That's perfect because we have some news as well, kiddo." Kakashi gave him a smile.

Naruto's curiosity was piqued and he looked at Kakashi, with excitement. "Really?"

Iruka chuckled. "Yes, but we want to hear yours first."

"Okay." The blonde nodded, not being able to contain his excitement anymore. "Today I found out that Sasuke and I are soulmates."

Iruka's eyes widened considerably. "Really?"

"Mhm!" Naruto nodded.

"I always thought Sasuke might've been gay." Kakashi inquired as he got up from the desk.

"That's what I said!" Naruto grinned.

"I'm so happy for you!" Iruka smiled proudly. Kakashi wrapped his arm around Iruka's shoulder. "Congratulations on finding him."

"Thanks." Naruto scratched at his cheek. "So what's your news?"

Kakashi and Iruka gave each other a look before smiling back at him. "We're going to officially adopt you!" They said in unison.

Naruto's eyes widened in shock and hope. "Wait, really?"

Both of them nodded. "We have a court date to go to make it official." Kakashi stood up from leaning on the desk to walk over to Naruto, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Welcome to the family."

Naruto felt tears sting his eyes and he wiped at them with the back of his hand.

Iruka stood up abruptly, clapping his hands together. "Let's celebrate! Why don't you ask Sasuke and his brother if they want to join us in going out to dinner?"

Naruto grinned brightly at them. "Alright, sounds like a plan!"

Sasuke smiled to himself as he hung up the phone and pulled out his keys to the house.

As soon as he got off the bus, his phone rang with Naruto's number appearing on the screen. The blonde excitedly told the news of his adoption and he couldn't help but to smile. Naruto then asked if he and his brother would join them for a celebratory dinner. Sasuke agreed and told him he'd confirm whether Itachi would join them.

He unlocked the front door and made his way up the stairs and towards his mother's room.

As he entered the doorway, he stood frozen as he was looking at his mother sitting up right in her bed. "Mom?"

She turned to look at him and she gave him a smile. "Sasuke."

"You're sitting up?" Sasuke scrambled to grab the chair to sit beside her.

She nodded her head. "The nurse helped me sit up and I've been feeling good all day."

"Really? No going out of consciousness? No loss of time?"

Mikoto giggled and gently placed her hand on Sasuke's knee. "Nope. I've been lucid all day. But enough about me, how was your day?"

Sasuke smiled at her and placed his own hand on top of hers. "I found my soulmate today."

Mikoto gasped in shock. "Oh really? I'm so happy for you, Sasuke!"

Sasuke's cheeks tinted a light pink. "Thanks. I'm really happy too."

"So, who is it?" She gave him a curious look.

"It's actually Naruto."

Mikoto's eyes widened before her smile grew wide, her eyes glittering with happiness. "Oh, Naruto? He's such a warm soul. You two will be happy together, I'm sure."

"I was actually shocked at how relieved I was that it was him and not some random girl." Sasuke began to admit his feelings. "And everything seemed to make more sense. I easily befriended him, and brought him here, Kiba and Neji haven't been to my house until years after I met them. I just trust him." He looked up at her to see her watching him, a knowing look on her face.

"I could tell he was doing you good. Since you've met him, you seem to have more life to you. He brings out the best of you and you bring it the best in him."

He nodded his head.

There was a comfortable silence settling between them. Until his mother's demeanor seemed to take on a more somber tone. "I do want to ask though, Sasuke," she spoke up, breaking the silence.

Sasuke sat up straighter, giving her his full attention.

She looked at him with concern. "Is he safe?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow in confusion until her words clicked in his head. "Yeah, he's safe now."

She let out a breath of relief. "Good. I'm glad. Now," she fidgeted in bed before looking at him and smirking. "Tell me all about how you found out you two were soulmates."

Sasuke began to tell her the story, leaving out the details of his cutting that he didn't want to worry her with.

They continued chatting, losing track of time. Neither of them heard the sound of approaching footsteps.

"Sasuke," Itachi's voice called out from the hall.

Both Mikoto and Sasuke directed their gaze to the door, waiting for Itachi to appear.

"I'm thinking take-out for dinner. What about y-" He stopped as he finally reached the doorway. The two pairs of eyes watched him carefully. "M-mom?"

Mikoto smiled at her oldest son. "Itachi."

The older raven was taken aback, surprised to hear the voice of his mother after all this time.

Sasuke scoffed. "I told you she was getting better." He crossed his arms over his chest.

Itachi stepped further into the room. He stood behind Sasuke and leaned against the back of the chair. "But how?"

"Sheer willpower." Mikoto proudly stuck out her chest.

Itachi finally allowed himself to believe that his mother was finally better. He let out a relieved laugh. "I'm so glad you're better, mom." He stepped up to the bed and leaned down, kissing the top of her head.

"And we can go celebrate with my soulmate." Sasuke spoke up.

Itachi quickly turned his head to look at him. "Your soulmate?"

"Yeah. I found out today."

"Who is it?"

"Naruto."

"Ah." Itachi smirked as he stood up straight. "So that's why you two seemed so close already."

"He's going to be adopted by Iruka and Kakashi, and they invited us to dinner. Do you want to go?"

"Of course. I have to get on Naruto's good side before he teams up with you to make my life miserable." Itachi chuckled as Sasuke rolled his eyes and sucked his teeth.

"You'll come too, right mom?" Both Sasuke and Itachi looked at her with hope.

She nodded. "It'd be my pleasure."

Naruto looked up abruptly from his menu at the sound of the restaurant door opening. He frowned in disappointment as an unfamiliar family walked in.

"Somebody's nervous." Kakashi teased the blonde.

Naruto blushed under the accusation. "I'm not nervous!"

The door opened once again and Naruto quickly turned to look.

Iruka chuckled at the anxious blonde. "Don't be nervous, Naruto. Sasuke will be here soon.

Naruto sighed as he turned back in his seat. "I know." He went back to looking at the menu.

The sound of the door opening came once again, but this time, Naruto fought the urge to look.

Kakashi grinned mischievously as he recognized Sasuke and his family walking into the restaurant.

"Hey Naruto." Sasuke greeted as he walked up to the blonde's seat. "Hello, Mr. Hatake, Mr. Umino."

"Please Sasuke," Kakashi spoke up. "Outside of school, you can use our first names." Iruka nodded, confirming his words.

"Alright, Kakashi." Sasuke tested it out. "You guys met my brother, Itachi." Itachi slightly bowed. "And this is my mother, Mikoto."

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Uchiha." Iruka greeted as he gestured to the seats at the table. "Please guys, have a seat."

The three Uchiha's sat down.

Sasuke reached for Naruto's hand under the table and gave it a light squeeze. Naruto turned to him and gave him a smile, Sasuke returning it.

The families talked and enjoyed their meals, getting to know more about each other.

As they were saying their goodbyes in the parking lot, Naruto and Sasuke stepped away to get some privacy.

"I'm really glad we got to do this tonight." Sasuke looked down at him with a smile.

"Me too." Naruto grinned back up. He reached for Sasuke's hands, swinging them lightly. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

Sasuke smirked. "Of course."

Naruto nodded once before leaning up to kiss the raven. He pulled away quickly and let go of his hands. "See ya!" He waved before running over to Iruka and Kakashi.

Sasuke chuckled and shook his head. He then made his way to Itachi and his mother. Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.


End file.
